KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Western Michigan University women's soccer coach Lewis Robinson was looking for specific players when he looked at the transfer portal at the end of last season.

It turned out two players who Robinson knew well were looking for something specific, too.

As it turned out, Indiana University transfer Jen Blitchok and Madonna University transfer Abby Werthman were made to be Broncos. Both have helped ignite the offense on a team which is currently in first place in the Mid-American Conference at 6-0-3. The Broncos are 10-3-3 overall.

And the even better news is that each has their Covid year of eligibility remaining so each has decided to come back next season.

''In the portal, I was looking largely for leaders and definitely goal scorers,'' Robinson said. ''We needed to create more chances and to be deeper in those areas and we needed players who can consistently be more of a threat around the goal box.''

Those boxes have been checked. Blitchok and Werthman each have five goals and five assists to lead WMU in both categories. On the MAC statistics lists, they are tied for second in the league in assists, tied for fifth in points with 15 and tied for seventh in goals scored. Blitchok is also fourth in shots with 45 and tied for sixth in shots on goal with 20. Her three game-winning goals are third in the MAC.

''We have a front line of six or seven players (Emily Pagett, Bria Telemaque, Jenna Blackburn and Reagan Wisser each have three goals) which creates competition and keeps them all going forward,'' Robinson said.

The WMU head coach has known Blitchok since she was 11 years old when he coached her in club soccer when she lived in Grandville.

''We won a few club national championships so when she became available, that was a pretty easy one,'' he said. ''She wanted to come here and we didn't have to think twice.''

Blitchok played three years at Indiana and graduated this past May.

''Because I wanted to be closer to home, most of my siblings live in the area, and wanting to pursue grad school where there was a good accounting program and with Lewis here, it was a huge draw,'' she said. ''The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the transfer portal, but I knew what I was going to get coming here.

''I think it's always a little tough deciding to transfer.''

She has definitely picked up in the goal-scoring department. Last season at Indiana, she had one goal and no assists with 11 shots. This season, five goals, five assists and with 45 shots, 20 of them on goal. That will keep the pressure on an opponent.

The center forward is obviously very comfortable with the coaches, players and Western Michigan's system.

''When we build our team, we like to be structured when defending, but when we are on offense, it's very free and we give good players a lot of freedom to make decisions, to be creative and to make mistakes as long as we respond in the right way,'' Robinson said.

Werthman came to WMU because she wanted a step up in competition. The left forward didn't have a single Division 1 offer coming out of Livonia Stevenson, so she went to NAIA Madonna where she had very good success. After scoring just five goals and having three assists in her first season, she exploded with 12 goals and four assists in 2021 and 14 goals and three assists in 2022.

''When I coached at Aquinas, we played Madonna for three years and she was the one player I felt would be a fun player to coach and she had the potential to play at the next level,'' Robinson said. ''We knew she was hungry for the competition and that's half the battle.

''If you spend any time with both of them, they are just gems as people and got along with the team from day one. They are driven.''

Looking at her goals and assists, it looks like the MAC has brought out the best in Werthman.

''The competition has been even better than what I expected,'' she said. ''It's been way more competitive, but it's been so much fun. I love the intensity of playing against good teams.''

Both said they were a bit nervous in their first games with the Broncos.

''It's always a little nerve wracking going into the first match of the season, especially since you are trying to prove yourself to your new team,'' Blitchok said. ''Practice is one thing, but playing against another team is a whole different animal.''

Werthman added: ''In the first practices, the first game, I was a bit nervous, but way more excited though.''

Obviously, they both got over their nerves very quickly. In the first game of the season, a 1-0 win over Northern Kentucky, Blitchok scored the goal and Werthman had the assist.

Then there is the one that got away. Against Ball State, the Cardinals held a 2-1 lead (Werthman had WMU's goal) before Madison Cotta scored to tie it at the 64:06 mark. With about 13 minutes left, Blitchok had a header clang off the post and the game would end in a 2-2 tie.

''I didn't expect the header to come right back off the post,'' Blitchok said. ''I want that back more than ever now.''

Added Robinson: ''We've had a couple of losses and ties in that we didn't play well, but we were able to come back from it the next day, learn from it and I feel good about it. It's one thing to say we should have won the game, but what we did was sit down and ask, 'Why didn't we win it, and if we play them again, what would we do differently to not be in that same situation.' ''

With the help of two high-scoring transfers, that same situation could come out differently.