KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's soccer team claimed its second consecutive Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship on Sunday afternoon with a 5-4 win over Ball State. WMU is just the fifth team in conference history to win back-to-back regular season championships. A win or tie in Thursday's regular season finale would make WMU the first program in MAC history to finish conference play with an undefeated record in back-to-back years. 

In the win, Jen Blitchok broke the program record for goals in a season by tallying a hat trick. She is now up to 15 goals on the season, trailing the MAC record holder by just four goals. Additionally, the Grandville, Mich. native is up to 37 points on the season, sitting just eight points behind the MAC record. 

FIRST HALF
The Broncos flexed their muscles early, getting a goal in the opening two minutes of the match. Madi Canada played a corner kick into the box and the ball eventually found the foot of Ava Beckett. She put the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 WMU lead in the 2nd minute. BSU would even the game at 1-1 in the 14th minute. 

It didn't take WMU long to respond, as Brielle Gomez sent a beautiful pass into the box off of a free kick. Blitchok fought her way into position and headed the ball into the back of the net for a 2-1 WMU lead in the 20th minute. Abby Werthman and Emily Pagett would get strong looks on net as the game moved into the back half of the opening 45 minutes. 

Western Michigan would extend its lead after BSU was called for a handball in the box, giving the Broncos a penalty kick. Blitchok stepped up and collected her second goal of the game, increasing the Brown and Gold's lead to 3-1 in the 33rd minute. 

Down the stretch of the half, Pagett and Jaden Peck would have shots saved. The Broncos carried a 3-1 lead into the final 45 minutes of play. 

SECOND HALF
Ball State quickly got the game back to within one, scoring in the 52nd minute. But as it had all game, Western Michigan responded with a goal of its own to increase its lead back to two. Blitchok used a nice feed from Pagett to get behind the defense. The graduate student scored her third goal of the game and 15th of the season in the 65th minute. 

Over the next eight minutes of play, the Cardinals would tie the game at 4-4. After some back-and-forth action in the middle of the half, Western Michigan created one more offensive chance. Meredith Vance fed the ball to Werthman on the wing and she made some nice moves to find open space in front of the net. The Livonia, Mich. native tucked the ball inside the right post and put the Broncos in front for good. 

That goal in the 85th minute proved to be the game winner, as Ball State would not get a shot in the remaining time. The Broncos moved to 10-1-6 overall and 7-0-3 in MAC play. 

UP NEXT
WMU will conclude the regular season with a home game against Northern Illinois on Thursday afternoon. The Broncos and Huskies will hit the field at 3 PM at the WMU Soccer Complex.