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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – After being on the road for nearly the entirety of the month of September, WKU Soccer will end its five-match road trip this weekend with visits to C-USA foes Charlotte on Friday evening at 6 p.m. and Old Dominion on Sunday afternoon at Noon.
WKU's five consecutive true road matches are the longest such streak in program history, with the road stretch beginning on Sept. 6 at Vanderbilt and also including C-USA tilts at Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech.
The Lady Toppers (2-5-2, 0-2 C-USA) enter Friday's match at Charlotte seeking their first victory in C-USA play. WKU tallied its first goal of the C-USA season in its last outing at Louisiana Tech, as Nicole Roseland fired past the keeper in the 84th minute. Despite the late equalizer, the Lady Techsters were able to find the match-winner just over four minutes later as the Lady Toppers fell, 2-1.
Ambere Barnett and Olivia Stanley lead the Lady Toppers with three goals apiece, and both Roseland and Tally Bishop have netted a pair of goals as well. Barnett and Chandler Backes are tied atop the team's leaderboard with 21 shots each, with Backes holding a narrow one-shot lead with nine attempts on goal through nine matches.
In goal, Bailee Witt has played all but 17 minutes since Anne-Marie Ulliac's early injury in the season opener, posting a 1.41 goals against average with 33 saves across 831 minutes of action along the way.
Charlotte (6-3, 2-0 C-USA) has gotten off to a hot start in C-USA play, outscoring FIU and Old Dominion by a combined score of 8-1 over its first two matches. Going back to non-conference play, the 49ers have won four of their five most recent matches.
Megan Greene leads Charlotte with six goals and 14 points on the 2018 campaign, while also posting team-high marks in shots (35) and shots on goal (21). Jamie Fankhauser (3), Julia Grainda (2) and Sophie Sipprell (2) have all also found the back of the net multiple times for Charlotte, and Riley Orr leads the squad with three assists.
In goal, Abby Stapleton has played all 820 minutes for the 49ers, posting five shutouts and 35 saves while surrendering only 10 goals, good for a goals against average of 1.10 through nine matches.
Friday's meeting will be WKU's first against the 49ers since the 2016 C-USA Quarterfinals hosted by Charlotte. In that matchup, Sarah Gorham found the late equalizer for the Lady Toppers to send the match to extra time, but Charlotte ultimately advanced in a penalty kick shootout after the 1-1 draw.
Old Dominion (3-5-2, 0-2 C-USA) began the season with a 2-0-1 record in its first three tilts but has posted just a 1-5-1 record since Aug. 26, including defeats in five of its last six outings.
Morgan Hall and Kira Laurento lead the Monarchs with three goals apiece on the year, and Natalie Johnson has tallied six assists en route to leading the squad with eight points.
Erin Davidson and Jasmine Crawley have split time in goal for Old Dominion, with Davidson drawing 719 minutes of action and Crawley filling in for the remaining 234 minutes. The two have combined for three shutouts, 26 saves and a goals against average of 1.23 in 2018.
WKU will be seeking its first-ever win over the Monarchs after falling in the first three meetings in the series. Most recently, the Lady Toppers dropped a 1-0 decision in double overtime in Norfolk on Sept. 15, 2017, last season.
Following this weekend's bouts, WKU will finally return home to the WKU Soccer Complex next weekend for a pair of battles against FIU (6 p.m. on Oct. 5) and UTEP (1 p.m. on Oct. 7). The Lady Toppers own a six-match unbeaten streak (4-0-2) at home stretching back to last season and have posted a win (Kentucky Christian) and two ties (Miami and Lipscomb) thus far this season.
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