Women's Soccer | September 11, 2019
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's soccer team kicks off a five-game home stand, hosting Oakland University on Thursday at 4 p.m. before hosting No. 18 Kansas on Sunday at 1 p.m.
HOW TO WATCH
Admission to the WMU Soccer Complex is free. Thursday's game against the Grizzlies is also being streamed live on ESPN3.com. There is no stream for Sunday's game against the Jayhawks.
THE SERIES
Western Michigan and Oakland have met 15 times in the regular season since the first meeting back in 1997. WMU holds a slight edge in the all-timer series at 8-7-0. The Broncos are 4-0 in the last four meetings and 7-3 in the last 10. Last season WMU traveled to OU and earned a 1-0 win.
Sunday's game is the first ever meeting between Kansas and Western Michigan.
HOME SWEET HOME
Over the next three weeks the Broncos will be hosting Oakland (Sept. 12), Kansas (Sept. 15), Loyola Chicago (Sept. 20), Kent State (Sept. 27) and Ohio (Sept. 29). Since the 2012 season, Western Michigan has posted a 41-12-7 record at the WMU Soccer Complex, including a 10-1 season last year and an 8-0-3 undefeated run in 2015.
Thursday's game against the Grizzlies is just the second home game of the regular season. WMU dropped its home-opener to Notre Dame, 2-1, back on Aug. 29.
SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Oakland (2-2-1) started off the season 2-0-1 with a tie a Eastern Michigan and wins at Valparaiso and home against Eastern Kentucky. Since then, OU has dropped games at Toledo and at home against Notre Dame. OU has put up eight goals in five games, with sophomores Alexa Sabbagh and Sami Lopez each scoring three. Junior defender Ashley Postma has a goal and leads the team with two assists.
Matching its offense, Oakland has also given up eight goals on the season. Redshirt junior Jamie Leas and sophomore Noëmi Stadelmann have both played over 200 minutes in goal. Leas has the better numbers with a 1-1-1 record, a 1.06 goals against average and has made 13 saves, while allowing just three goals.
SCOUTING THE JAYHAWKS
Kansas (5-1) suffered its first loss of the season last Friday, falling to DePaul in West Lafayette, Ind., 1-0. The Jayhawks rebounded to beat hosts Purdue, 2-1, but dropped from 11 in the national rankings to No. 18 in this weeks United Soccer Coaches Association of American poll. UK boasts wins over Nebraska, Loyola Chicago, No. 20 Memphis and Florida Atlantic.
Kansas is averaging 2.50 goals per game so far this season. Senior Katie McClure has seven of the team's 15 goals and a team-high three assists for 17 points. She's scored the game-winning goal in four of the team's five victories.
#WeWillReign
