KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's soccer team defeated Buffalo 4-1 on Sunday afternoon at the WMU Soccer Complex. The win pushed the Broncos to 11-3-3 overall and 7-0-3 in conference play, keeping them in first place in the Mid-American Conference with one game to play in the regular season. The win also pushed the team's unbeaten streak to 10 straight games, which matches a program record set in 2003.
Prior to the game, the Broncos honored seven seniors for their time and dedication to the program. The WMU seniors are
Rose Dumford,
Stephanie Currie,
Kayla Whelchel,
Lexi Nickole,
Madison Cotta,
Reagan Wisser and
Bria Telemaque.
FIRST HALF
Jenna Blackburn got two good shots in the opening 10 minutes, but neither would find the back of the net. After controlling most of the play in the opening portion of the half, the Broncos wouldn't be the ones to get on the board first. Buffalo's second shot of the game found the back of the net, putting the Bulls in front 1-0 in the 12th minute.
However, Western Michigan wasn't down long, as
Emily Pagett ripped a shot into the net off of a feed from Blackburn to knot the game at 1-1 in the 22nd minute. As the game moved to the later stages of the first 45 minutes, Blackburn would get another strong look on net, but Bulls keeper Rebecca Winslow was there to make the stop.
Neither team would get a shot in the final five minutes, and the score remained tied heading into halftime.
SECOND HALF
It was all Western Michigan to open the second half, as the Broncos got the first four shots of the second 45 minutes. Telemaque had two shots, while
Jen Blitchok and Pagett each had one. The Broncos were finally able to breakthrough offensively in the 71st minute when Pagett slipped a nice pass to Blitchok who ripped a shot into the net to give WMU a one-goal lead.
The Western Michigan offense wasn't done there, with the Brown and Gold getting another goal just a few minutes later. This time it was Currie finding Blitchok in open space, and she was able to score her second goal of the afternoon. That pushed the score to 3-1 in favor of Western Michigan.
After a few substitutions, Cotta advanced the ball to Blackburn who was able to net WMU's fourth and final goal of the game. The Bulls got two shots in the final eight minutes of the match, but WMU was able to stop the attack and preserve the 4-1 victory.
WMU led Buffalo in shots (16-7), shots on goal (9-5) and corner kicks (4-1).
UP NEXT
Western Michigan will close out the regular season with a home match against Toledo on Thursday, Oct. 26. The game is set for 3 p.m. at the WMU Soccer Complex.
