Game Notes (.pdf)
Gameday Center: The Bowling Green Game
Gameday Center: The Minnesota Game
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Looking to expand on a two-game winning streak, WKU Soccer travels to Minneapolis, Minnesota this weekend for the Minnesota Tournament, playing games against first-time opponents Bowling Green and Minnesota.
The 2012 Lady Topper roster has combined to pick up the offensive void left by the graduation of all-time leading goal scorer Mallory Outerbridge. Five different players have scored and a total of eight players have either scored or recorded an assist through four games. Over the weekend, eight of WKU's 11 starting players attempted a shot.
"It really is a team effort," said head coach Jason Neidell. "We have been spreading the ball around really well. We have alot of people getting shots... It is really good to see us spreading the ball around. I think it is really hard for opponents to scout us at this point because we have alot of different players getting on the board."
Last weekend, the Lady Toppers won the Ball State Tournament by posting a 3-0 win over Xavier and a 2-1 win over Northern Kentucky to improve to 3-1 on the season.
Senior Amanda Buechel (Cincinnati, Ohio), the reigning Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week, tops the Lady Toppers stat sheet in goals (four) and points (nine). Buechel recorded two goals and an assist in WKU's wins over Xavier and Northern Kentucky this past weekend at Ball State. It is the second Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honor for Buechel in her career. She was named the Player of the Week on Oct. 2, 2007 during her freshman season. No player in program history has won the honor during two separate seasons prior to Buechel's selections. She is one of three players in program history to win the honor twice as Kellie Walker (2009) and Mallory Outerbridge (2011) also claimed the honor on two occasions, but both in the same season.
Buechel also became the sixth player in program history to record 20 career goals when she notched her second goal of the game with Northern Kentucky University on Sunday in the 71st minute.
Bowling Green (1-2) is coming off a 2-1 win over IUPUI. The Falcons were outscored 6-1 in their opening two games before posting the 2-1 win over IUPUI. Bowling Green is the third team from the MAC to face off against WKU all-time. The Lady Toppers are 1-1 against Ball State and 1-0 against Eastern Michigan.
First touch is set for 1:00pm CT on Saturday.
"Bowling Green is a really good MAC school," said Neidell. "It is going to be a tough matchup for us."
Minnesota (2-2) has outscored opponents 10-8 this season and are particularly good on offense in the first half, scoring seven of their ten goals before the end of the first 45 minutes of play. Taylor Uhl has scored a team best 12 points this season, including five goals in just four games. Minnesota is coming off a 4-1 win over USC on the road, part of a two-game California road swing.
WKU is playing just its second game in program history against a Big Ten opponent. First touch is set for 1:00pm CT on Monday.
"Minnesota is having a great season," said Neidell. "They have played four ranked opponents to open the season so they are rocking and rolling. They just had a really good win against Southern California.
"We know we are up against two good opponents this weekend and we need to bring our best soccer."
Following the road trip to Minnesota, WKU returns home on Sept. 9 when the Lady Toppers host Vanderbilt at 1:00pm. Single game tickets are available through the WKU Ticket Office by calling 270-745-5222 or 1-800-5-BIG-RED. Tickets can also be ordered online at www.wkusports.com. In addition, a game ticket package with nine vouchers that can be used for any game during the 2012 season are available for just $25 through the ticket office.
For complete coverage of WKU Soccer, visit the official website of WKU Athletics at www.wkusports.com.
