INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Misako Inaba scored the only goal in leading Western Illinois to a 1-0 victory over IUPUI Saturday in women's soccer action. The Westerwinds picked up a much needed game to stay in the hunt for the Mid-Con Tournament.

"This was a huge win for us," said Western head coach, Kevin Sherry. "It was between us and IUPUI to see who was going to want to go to the conference tournament more. Our fate was in our own hands."

Inaba scored her third goal of the year in the 39th minute after Katelyn Wisner worked her way into position to fed Inaba with the ball.

"It was because of Katelyn's hustle that we scored the goal," said Sherry. "She made something out of nothing and put us into position to score."

Sherry also touted his defense that pitched Western's sixth shutout of the year.

"We were very organized and it was a whole team effort, but Jacquleyn Trickey really had a phenomenal performance."

The Westerwinds outshot the Jaguars 19-8 and put more shots on goal at 7-1.

Samantha Clark recorded three saves for Western Illinois. Jamie Farrell recorded six saves for IUPUI.

"Their goalie was great," said Sherry. "We really had to rely on our defense and were very fortunate to get that one goal."

The win ties the record for most wins in school history with nine that was set by the 2005 team.

Western Illinois will now travel to Rochester, Mich., to play Oakland Saturday, Oct. 21.