Women's Soccer | October 03, 2017
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's soccer team hosts Ball State on Thursday at 4 p.m. and then travels to Miami on Sunday to continue Mid-American Conference play.
TRENDING UPWARDS
The Broncos (7-3-1, 2-1-1 MAC) currently sit in third place in the MAC West behind Toledo and the Cardinals. WMU is 5-1-1 in its last seven games and are 4-1 this season at the WMU Soccer Complex. Western Michigan enters Thursday on the heels of a 1-0-1 weekend in MAC play. The Broncos beat Bowling Green 2-1 on a late goal by Emma Kahn. On Sunday WMU and the Rockets tied 0-0 despite the Broncos firing off a season-high 24 shots.
In the win over the Falcons, Grace Labadie also scored a goal, her team-best fourth of the season. The sophomore transfer from Indiana has been WMU's top offensive threat this season with nine total points. Seven other Broncos have scored this season, with Kahn and Tiffany Buckler both tied with two.
YOU'RE THE BEST AROUND
Senior goalkeeper Stephanie Heber leads the MAC in shutouts, both in conference and overall. Overall she has six shutouts on the season and in MAC play she has two so far. Earlier in the season Heber set the career-shutouts mark to surpass former Bronco great Michelle Watson.
THINKING PINK
For the month of October the Broncos will wear white warmup jerseys with pink lettering in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
CARDINALS AT A GLANCE // 5-5-2, 3-0-1 MAC
Ball State played a tough non-conference schedule and came out of it with just two wins. The Cardinals have rebounded nicely and sit atop of the MAC West with a 3-0-1 record. BSU and Toledo, 2-0-2, are the only two undefeated teams in conference play. Last weekend Ball State hosted Ohio and Kent State, beating the Bobcats 3-1 and the Golden Flashes 1-0.
Julia Elvbo is the team's leading scorer with four goals on the season. Sam Kambol sits just behind her with three, while Allison Abbe leads the team with three assists. Alyssa Heintschel and Tristin Stuteville have both seen significant action between the sticks. Heintschel has the better numbers with a 4-2-0 record, a 0.51 goals against average and has made 26 saves for a .897 save percentage.
REDHAWKS AT A GLANCE // 0-10-1, 0-3-1 MAC
Miami has had a rough go of it this season and remain the only overall winless team in the conference. The RedHawks' one draw came last weekend against Ohio, a 0-0 tie.
Two of the team's three goals have been scored by Olivia Winnett, who also has one assist on the season. Winnett also leads the team in shots with 24. Patricia Koutoulas has started and played in every minute this season and has made 60 saves.
ON THE HORIZON
Next weekend WMU welcomes Ohio on Friday for a 4 p.m. start and Kent State on Sunday for a 1 p.m. start. Sunday marks the final regular season home game for the Broncos and the team will take time prior to the start to of the game to honor its seven-member senior class.
