Women's Soccer | October 25, 2017

KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan women's soccer team closes out the regular season at Northern Illinois on Thursday, October 26 at 3 p.m.
 
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WIN AND GET IN
If WMU defeats NIU it will get into the 2017 Mid-American Conference Tournament. If the Broncos lose, they need a loss from Eastern Michigan against Central Michigan to get in. A tie or a loss by Western Michigan and a win by the Eagles will results in WMU missing the tournament.
 
BRONCOS CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON
WMU is currently in fourth place in the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 4-5-1 conference record and an 9-7-1 overall record, also sitting eighth overall in the final cutoff spot for the tournament.
 
The Broncos split their games last week with a loss at Eastern Michigan (3-0) and a win against rival Central Michigan (2-1). Senior midfielder Kendall Juhnke delivered the game-winning goal for WMU in the 57^th minute of the game against CMU.
 
The Broncos are ranked in the top three in MAC in shots per game with 257 and corner kicks with 89. Redshirt senior Stephanie Heber leads the MAC in shutouts with seven. Sophomore Grace Labadie leads the team in points with 11 off of five goals and an assist. Senior midfielder Emma Kahn and senior defender Tiffany Buckler are second with six points. Kahn has three goals while Buckler has two goals and two assists.
 
SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
The Huskies will be entering the game with an overall record of 8-8-1 and a 5-5 record in the MAC. NIU sits in third place in the MAC West right above WMU and sixth overall, slotting them into the MAC Tournament. Leading the way for the Huskies is Lauren Gierman with 10 points off two goals and six assists. Both Taylor Sarver and Haley Hoppe are tied for the team lead in goals with three. In net for NIU is Amy Annala who has recorded five shutouts this season. Annala is averaging 1.16 goals allowed per game and has a .754 save percentage. The Huskies average 10.5 shots per game and of those, 41.6 percent land on goal.     
 
ON THE HORIZON
The first round of the MAC Tournament begins on Sunday, Oct. 29.