KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's soccer team will conclude regular season play against Northern Illinois on Thursday afternoon at the WMU Soccer Complex. The Broncos and Huskies will hit the field at 3 PM.
LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan collected a 5-4 victory over Ball State last Sunday, which clinched the program's second consecutive MAC Regular Season Championship.
Jen Blitchok tallied a hat trick in the win, while
Ava Beckett and
Abby Werthman provided the other two goals.
HOME SWEET HOME
Western Michigan has been dominant on its home field over the last two years, holding a 12-2-3 record in that stretch.
The Broncos are 7-0-1 at home this season, including a win over Marquette and tie against nationally ranked Iowa. Western Michigan has outscored opponents 25-5 at home in 2024.
WMU's last regular season loss at home was back on Sept. 3, 2023 against Wisconsin.
BALANCED BLITCHOK
Graduate student
Jen Blitchok has been far and away the best player in the Mid-American Conference this season, as she has 37 points on 15 goals and seven assists.
She currently holds the WMU single-season records for both points and goals. She is four goals and eight points shy of breaking the MAC record in both categories.
The Grandville, Mich. native showcased her talent last week, helping the Broncos secure a second consecutive MAC Regular Season Championship by tallying seven points on three goals and one assist in a pair of wins over Toledo and Ball State.
For her efforts, Top Drawer Soccer named her the National Player of the Week, while the MAC selected her as the Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season.
To cap off her strong performance, the league also honored her as the Scholar Athlete of the Week. Along with her prowess on the field, Blitchok has maintained a 4.0 GPA in her pursuit of a Masters of Business Administration.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
NIU enters the final game of the regular season looking to punch its ticket to the MAC Tournament. The Huskies haven't lost since Oct. 5.
WMU leads the all-time series, 21-6-3. That includes a 12-2-1 record in Kalamazoo. The Broncos haven't lost to NIU since 2016 and haven't dropped a home game to the Huskies since 2007.
Northern Illinois is led by Tyra King, who has 21 points on eight goals and five assists. Aiding the attack has been Kelsi McLaughlin, who has a balanced four goals and four assists.
In net, Ary Purifoy has started 17 games for the Huskies. She carries a 7-4-5 record, 1.16 goals against average and .732 save percentage into Thursday's match.
