BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Seeking a spot in the 2017 C-USA Tournament, WKU Soccer is set to close its regular season this weekend, first meeting Marshall on Senior Night on Friday at 6 p.m. at the WKU Soccer Complex before traveling to UAB for a rescheduled match on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
On Friday, the Lady Toppers' five seniors; Allison Leone, Hannah Chua, Nahyo Jalajel, Shayna Dheel and Bria Mosley; will be honored in a post-match ceremony for their contributions to the program. In the four years that the senior class has been together on The Hill, WKU has captured 36 wins, 20 of which have come while defending the WKU Soccer Complex.
Sunday's match at UAB will be the regular season finale for both sides and was rescheduled from its initial October 8 date due to inclement weather associated with Hurricane Nate.
WKU (6-8-1, 3-4-1 C-USA) enters the weekend with 10 points, tied alongside Marshall for ninth place in the C-USA standings; Charlotte and Florida Atlantic, each with 13 points, are tied for seventh place. With the top eight teams reaching the C-USA Tournament in Boca Raton, Fla., the Lady Toppers will need at least one victory this weekend to force a tiebreaker for the final qualifying spot.
The Lady Toppers come into Friday's match on a three-match winning streak, outscoring their opponents 6-1 over that same stretch. In their most recent outing, WKU went on the road and defeated UTSA, 3-1, behind goals from Aleksandra Kozovic, Hannah Cady and Chandler Backes last Thursday evening.
Backes moved into 10th place on WKU's all-time goalscoring list with her goal at UTSA; the sophomore has six goals this season and 16 for her career across just 34 matches on The Hill. The Carmel, Ind., native also leads all Lady Toppers this season with 14 points and has tallied a pair of match-winning goals against Evansville and FIU.
Freshman Tally Bishop has broken out over the last three matches for the Lady Toppers, scoring a pair of goals and launching seven shots on goal. For the season, Bishop has scored three goals and tallied one assist to rank second on the squad with seven points.
Defensively, the Lady Toppers have surrendered only one goal over their last 342 minutes played dating back to Oct. 6 against Middle Tennessee. Two-time C-USA Defensive Player of the Week Christina Bragado has played every minute over that span, anchoring the defense as its center back, while WKU Soccer's all-time weekly awards winner Leone has been a force in goal, sporting a 0.85 goals against average with five shutouts and 65 saves this season.
Marshall (5-10-1, 3-5-1 C-USA) has dropped its last two matches heading into Friday's clash, most recently dropping a 2-0 decision at UTEP last Thursday. The Thundering Herd have tallied only 15 goals in 2017, but sport five players who have found the back of the net multiple times, led by five goals from Jordan Sackaris. Mary Lawman ranks second on the squad with 30 shots, 11 of which have been placed on goal, and has also scored a pair of goals; Rene Ross leads Marshall with three assists on the year.
In goal, Megan Bonelli has seen the majority of minutes for the Thundering Herd, allowing 25 goals while making 74 saves and generating a 1.74 goals against average.
UAB (11-3-3, 5-2-1 C-USA) is coming off a 1-0 loss to Louisiana Tech in its last time out on Sunday afternoon, its first home setback of the season. Four different Blazers have scored at least six goals this season; Amy Brewer (9), Megan Hudgens (7), Rachel Green (7) and Caroline Kehrer (6); and Brewer leads the team with 23 total points. UAB's 35 goals this season are tied for the third-best mark in the conference, trailing only Rice's 43 and North Texas' 38.
Kelsey Daugherty has played every minute in goal for the Blazers and has been one of the top goalkeepers in C-USA this season, making 82 saves and registering six shutouts with a 0.78 goals against average.
Following this weekend's matches, the 2017 C-USA Tournament will be hosted by Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla., with the quarterfinals being played on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
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