KALAMAZOO, Mich. –  The Western Michigan women's soccer program (12-6-1, 6-4-1 MAC) begins its Mid-American Conference Tournament title defense welcoming Miami (8-8-2, 5-4-2 MAC) for a 2016 quarterfinal match on Sunday, Oct. 30. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. 

The Broncos enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed after finishing 6-4-1 in conference play and Miami enters the No. 5 seed by finishing 5-4-2 in conference.

"After getting a great result against a competitive NIU team, I am really looking forward to getting into tournament play," commented head coach Lauren Sinacola. "The tournament pool is overall very competitive and all of the teams are performing at their best when it counts. I believe we have been playing some of our best soccer in these past few games and we really took a step in the right direction at the right time. Sunday will be interesting all around the conference and I am looking forward to our team coming out and competing on our home field."

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LIVE STREAM & LIVE STATS
Western Michigan will broadcast the MAC quarterfinal against Miami via live video stream on wmubroncos.com for free on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 1 p.m. Live stats will also be available, powered by StatBrodcast.  

MAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Bronco women's soccer team took home its first ever MAC championship in 2003 under Mike Haines and since then has found a level of consistency and prominence over the last 10 years. Western Michigan has played in the MAC Tournament championship game in five of the last six years and have won titles in two of the last three seasons.

Suzie Grech led the Broncos to the championship game of the MAC Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history in 2010 and 2011. Nate Norman took the reigns in 2012 following a Grech departure. Under Norman, WMU appeared in three championship games taking the title home in 2013 and 2015.

Since the start of the MAC Tournament in 1997, the Broncos have hosted and played in 12 games at home in Kalamazoo holding a 10-2 overall record. During those games, Western Michigan outscored its opponent 21-11 and recorded five shutouts.

SINACOLA'S PROVEN TRACK RECORD
Despite being her first year at the helm of the Western Michigan women's soccer program, head coach Lauren Sinacola is no stranger to the MAC Tournament. In the Spring of 2013, Sinacola was hired on to the coaching staff where she honed her skills as a head coach under Norman. The two led Western Michigan to an overall 8-1 record during the MAC Tournament and to a title game appearance in each of the last three seasons, bringing the championship home to Kalamazoo in 2013 and 2015.

VETERAN SENIORS
This year's senior class originally was made up of Liz Abro, Mackenzie Barber, Jewell Edwards, Megan Ross and Olivia Vollmers in 2013. Makenzie Larson and Candice Uhl both joined the program one year later, giving WMU a total of seven seniors in 2016. Combined this year's senior class is the winningest class over a four-year period in Western Michigan history with 50 wins. The MAC Tournament is a familiar place for that group, having made the finals in each of the past three seasons.

BRONCOS AT A GLANCE
Western Michigan will begin MAC Tournament play unbeaten in its last five games going 4-0-1. Over the season 13 different Broncos have scored, while 10 players have recorded more than one goal. Midfielders Abro and Burke have each recorded a team-high 14 points during the regular season. Abro, the senior captain, has registered five goals and dished out four assists while the mature midfielder, Burke, has tallied four goals and six assists. Redshirt junior Stephanie Heber has been called upon in 17 games for the Broncos between the pipes this season holding a 11-3-0 record including five shutouts and a 1.26 goals against average.

REDHAWKS AT A GLANCE
The RedHawks enter the MAC quarterfinal going 0-3-1 in their final four matches during the regular season. In those four games, Miami has been shut out on all four occasions while giving up seven goals. Twelve different Miami players have scored this season for a total of 15 goals. Freshman Oliva Winnett leads the team with seven points on three goals and one assist. Senior Vic Maniaci has logged the most minutes in goal for Miami while averaging 1.02 goals against and a 6-7-1 overall record.

LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos welcomed Miami to the WMU Soccer Complex on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016. In a rematch of the 2015 Mid-American Conference Championship game, Western Michigan fell 1-0 to the RedHawks after outshooting Miami 22-10 overall. Miami's lone goal came in the eighth minute when MU's Kat Zalar ripped a shot into the side of the net past Bronco goalkeeper Makenzie Larson.

QUOTING SINACOLA
"Miami has always proven to be a strong team in our conference," commented WMU head coach Lauren Sinacola. "The team is dynamic in the attack and has a strong back line proven difficult to break down. I think it will be a fun game to be a part of and I believe our team is prepared to go out and defend our home turf. We have been training smart this past week on focusing on the smaller details and cleaning a few things up. Tournament time is always exciting and entertaining, I'm looking forward to getting it started with a strong challenge out of the gate."