Women's Soccer | October 26, 2018
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's soccer team will host Akron on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the WMU Soccer Complex in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Quarterfinals.
The Broncos (13-6, 7-4-0 MAC) secured home field advantage after wrapping up the regular season with a 4-0 win over Northern Illinois and finishing in third place in the conference standings.
The game will be streamed live for free at wmubroncos.com.
THE MATCHUP
WMU and UA met back on Sept. 21 in Kalamazoo and the Broncos earned a 1-0 win in overtime. Freshman midfielder Victoria Kryiakopolous finished off a corner kick by Grace Labadie just 1:35 into the overtime period.
Akron (8-9-2, 5-5-1 MAC) made the MAC Tournament after ripping off four straight wins to end the season and finished in sixth place. Sydney Worthy leads the team with six goals and two assists for 14 points. Carly Pcholinsky, Ashley Amato, Shea O'Brien, and Lexie Kolano each have at least thre goals, while Pcholinsky has a team-high three assists. Erin McKinney has started in 17 games this season with a 6-8-1 record, three shutouts and 95 total saves.
This will be the first ever matchup between Western Michigan and Akron in the MAC Tournament.
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
WMU wrapped up the regular season going 9-1-0 at the WMU Soccer Complex this season. The Broncos are 11-2 all-time at home in the MAC Tournament.
Western Michigan has outscored its opponents 25-8 in the 10 games, averaging 2.50 goals per game. Sophomore forward Bailey Korhorn has scored six of her team-best nine goals at the WMU Soccer Complex. WMU has also shutout opponents five times.
The Broncos can end up with home field advantage for the entire MAC Tournament, but can only do so with a win over Akron and losses by Bowling Green and Ball State. The highest seed after the quarterfinals hosts the semifinals and finals.
TIED FOR THE BEST
First-year head coach Sarah Stancyzk has tied for the most wins in a debut season in program history with 13. She shares the honors with former head coach Lauren Sinacola, who had 13 during the 2016 season. Other than the first coach in program history, Kate O'Shaughnessy, no other head coach in program history had had 10 or more wins other than Sinacola and Stanczyk.
