BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- The WKU women's soccer team will play on the road for the second consecutive weekend when they take on Middle Tennessee (7-3-1, 3-0-0 C-USA) and UAB (1-9-0, 0-3-0 C-USA) on Friday and Sunday this weekend.
The Lady Toppers and the Blue Raiders will square off on Friday at 7:00 PM in Murfreesboro, Tenn. at the Dean A. Hayes Soccer and Track Stadium. Then WKU will face UAB on Sunday at 1:00 PM in Birmingham, Ala. at the West Campus Field.
Friday's match with Middle Tennessee continues a long rivalry between the two schools in all sports, usually resulting in close games. Soccer is no exception and the matches have proved it. The series history has featured 15 matches between the two programs and there have been more draws than wins or losses for either team. WKU leads the series 5-4-6 currently. Of the 15 matches, eight have went into overtime. The biggest score margin has been two goals and it has happened four times, in 2002, 2006, 2009 and 2010. WKU is currently riding a five game unbeaten streak against Middle Tennessee with a 3-0-2 record in the past five matches.
Last season's double overtime thriller was the highest scoring affair in series history with seven goals being scored between the two teams. The game got going with an Iris Dunn goal in the 30th minute, taking the Lady Toppers to halftime with a 1-0 lead. The scoring was far from over though. In the 55th minute Middle Tennessee evened up the score and seven minutes later the Blue Raiders took the lead, but not for long. Fifteen seconds later, Iris Dunn earned a penalty kick and the score was tied once again. Then 25 seconds later, WKU took the lead again after Shayna Dheel found the back of the net. The lead only lasted six minutes before Middle Tennessee scored again. Neither team scored in the remaining regulation time, so the game went to extra minutes. In the 108th minute, Hannah Chua found Haley Baldridge for the Golden Goal and the game was over, WKU gets the 4-3 victory.
This season, Middle Tennessee comes into the match at the top of the Conference USA standings with nine points and an undefeated 3-0-0 record in conference play. WKU currently is tied for third in the standings with North Texas with seven points. WKU and Middle Tennessee hold top-100 NCAA RPI rankings with WKU having the third highest score in the conference and Middle Tennessee with the fifth.
Sunday, WKU will travel to Birmingham to take on UAB for only the second time in program history. The first meeting came last year in Bowling Green, where WKU took a 1-0 win. The Blazers currently stand at the bottom of the conference rankings with a 0-3-0 record in league play and 1-9-0 record overall.
Sunday's contest will be streamed live online at UABSports.com for a premium fee.
