Women's Soccer | October 26, 2016

KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan women's soccer team enters its final regular season Mid-American Conference match on Thursday, Oct. 27 at the WMU Soccer Complex. The Broncos (11-6-1, 5-4-1 MAC) welcome the Huskies of Northern Illinois University at 3 p.m.
 
WMU recorded its first undefeated conference weekend, defeating Bowling Green (4-3) and Toledo (4-3) on the road last weekend. NIU dropped both its matches last weekend to Toledo (1-0) and Bowling Green (2-0).
 
WHAT'S AT STAKE
The Broncos currently sit in third place in the MAC West Division and fifth overall in the conference.  A Western Michigan victory over NIU on Thursday and a Miami tie or loss to Ball State will bump the Broncos into fourth overall and give WMU home field advantage during the MAC quarterfinals. The conference tournament begins Sunday, Oct. 30.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats are available for Thursday's game, powered by StatBroadcast. In-game Twitter updates can also be seen by following @WMUWomensSoccer.
 
WESTERN MICHIGAN AT A GLANCE // 11-6-1, 5-4-1 MAC
Last Thursday as teams traded goals during an exciting and rainy first half, the Broncos rallied from a 3-2 deficit to defeat Bowling Green, 4-3.  Western Michigan tallied all its four goals in the first while playing stiff defense to hold the Falcons off the board in the second. Senior forward Olivia Vollmers led the way in scoring for WMU connecting on two goals, while senior forward Candice Uhl and sophomore midfielder Alyssa Burke contributed to the scoring. Seniors Liz Abro and Megan Ross and junior Maria Jaramillo dished out the assists on the night.
 
Traveling to Toledo on Sunday afternoon, Western Michigan found itself in another seven-goal thriller.  Burke started the action; the midfielder received the ball from half field dribbled down the field and saw the Toledo keeper off her line. The composed sophomore chipped the Rocket goalie from 40 yards out as the Broncos took the 1-0 lead into half. The second half both teams would trade goals as the final scoreboard read 4-3.  Burke and Abro both notched two goals apiece to help the Broncos defeat the Rockets.
 
Following the weekend, the Broncos are 3-0-1 in their last four games and 13 different Broncos have scored this season while nine have recorded more than one goal. Midfielders Abro and Burke have record the team-high 14 points during the regular season. Abro, the senior captain, has recorded five goals and dished out four assists while the mature midfielder, Burke, has tallied four goals and six assists.
 
NORTHERN ILLINOIS AT A GLANCE // 4-9-4, 3-5-2 MAC
The Huskies played two away games last weekend, falling at Toledo, 1-0, on Thursday, Oct. 20, before recording their second loss of the weekend at Bowling Green, 2-0, this past Sunday afternoon.  Following the weekend, the Huskies dropped two places in the conference and are now fifth in the MAC West standings.
 
Northern Illinois began the conference season off strong going 3-1 with wins over Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Ohio. In their last six games, the Huskies have been shutout and unable to notch a win going 0-2-4 in the MAC. Meanwhile, NIU holds a 1-6-0 away record during the 2016 season.
 
Four different Huskies have scored in their 17 matches this year, including the team high six-goals from Taylor Sarver. The sophomore forward also holds the team high 13 points on six goals and one assist. Junior goaltender Amy Annala has been called upon to play most of the minutes between the pipes for the Huskies averaging 0.94 goals against.
 
Last year the head-to-head matchup between the Broncos and Huskies occurred during the last game of the regular season on Oct. 29, 2015. Western Michigan travelled to Northern Illinois battling the Huskies to a 2-2 draw as the Broncos scored with just 49 seconds remaining in regulation to even the score. WMU outshot NIU 18-6 during the afternoon while Emma Kahn recorded a goal for the Broncos.
  
NEXT UP
Western Michigan will begin its MAC Tournament title defense on Sunday, Oct. 30th. The Broncos have secured their spot in the tournament but depending on Thursday's results, the location, time and opponent will be determined for the MAC Quarterfinals on Sunday.