MACOMB, Ill. - The final two games of 2011 for the Western Illinois (7-10, 1-6) women's soccer program will feature the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (6-10-1, 4-2-1) on Friday at 3 p.m. and the IPFW (5-9-1, 2-4-1) on Sunday at noon. The 2011 Leatherneck senior class will be honored on Sunday as Lauren DeWolf, Kristin Kuhar, Laura Lins and Nora Potempa all will be playing their final game at MacKenzie Alumni Field on Sunday afternoon.
The Leathernecks dropped the first two games of the four-game homestand on Thursday and Saturday against Nebraska-Omaha and IUPUI.
The Match Up
Who • Western Illinois (7-8, 1-5) vs. Oakland (6-10-1, 4-2-1)
When • Friday, Oct. 28 (3 p.m. CDT)
Location • Macomb, Ill. • John MacKenzie Alumni Field (1,000)
Coverage
Live Stats • GoLeathernecks.com
The Match Up
Who • Western Illinois (7-8, 1-5) vs. IPFW (5-9-1, 2-4-1)
When • Sunday, Oct. 30 (Noon CDT) - Senior Day
Location • Macomb, Ill. • John MacKenzie Alumni Field (1,000)
Coverage
Live Stats • GoLeathernecks.com
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES: Head coach Nick O'Shea is in his 18th season at the helm... Oakland enters Friday's game with a 6-10-1 record overall and a 4-2-1 mark in the Summit League... a season ago the Golden Grizzlies went 12-5-3 overall and were unbeaten during the regular season in conference play at 8-0-1... the season ended for Oakland in the conference tournament at the hands of Western Illinois on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie... it will be the 18th meeting between the two programs and Western trails the all-time series 3-13-1.
GOLDEN GRIZZLIES TO WATCH: Freshman forward Kyla Kellerman leads the team with five goals on the season... sophomore forward Serena San Cartier has three goals and leads the team with five assists and 11 points... junior defender Brianna Bowery also has three goals... 12 other Golden Grizzlies have collected at least one goal this season... senior Anne Berschbach has seen the majority of the time in net and has collected three shutouts and a 5-5-1 record... she has 0.86 goals-against average with 47 saves.
SCOUTING THE MASTODONS: Head coach Margaret Saurin is in her fifth season leading the IPFW women's soccer program... in 2010 the Mastodons went 7-9-1 and 4-5 within the Summit League... so far in 2011 they are 5-9-1 overall and 2-4-1 in conference play... Sunday will be the eighth meeting all-time and Western leads the series 6-1.
MASTODONS TO WATCH: Junior forward Lisa Underwood continues to lead the IPFW program, this seasons he leads the team with five goals... junior forward Danielle Bishop has collected three goals in 2011... senior forward Tara O'Toole and junior midfielder Rhea Proctor both have two goals... junior midfielder Tylar Allison leads the team with four assists... senior goalkeeper Kristen McFadden has made 42 saves and has a 1.39 goals-against average to her name... she has recorded one shutout.
SENIOR CLASS: As a group, Western's senior class has helped lead the Leathernecks to 33 victories including 16 Summit League wins. The class also helped the Leathernecks go on a 12-match home-unbeaten streak that dated back to Oct. 18. 2009. Â In 2010, Western made an appearance in the Summit League Championship match and made the tournament in 2009.
LAUREN DEWOLF: A two-time team captain who has appeared in 49 matches in her career. Selected to the Summit League Fall Academic All-League Team on three occasions and was named to the 2010-11 Summit League Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence. She has been a leader for this program and has anchored the Leathernecks' defense.
KRISTIN KUHAR: She has appeared in 32 matches for the Purple & Gold. She has been a Summit League Fall Academic All-League selection twice and in 2010-11 was named to the Summit League Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence. This season she has a goal and an assist.
LAURA LINS: She has appeared 60 matches for Western Illinois. A three-time selection to the Summit League Fall Academic All-League Team. In 2010-11, she was named to the Summit League Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence. Also, she received the Cathy Early Scholarship this season. Has three career goals and three assists. She had a game-winner in 2008 against Eastern Illinois.
NORA POTEMPA: She has appeared 66 matches as a Leatherneck. In 2009, she was named to the Summit League Fall Academic All-League Team. She has seven career goals and nine career assists. Â Her nine assists ties her for fifth all-time in program history. Had two game-winning goals in 2009, the first at UMKC and the second at IPFW. In 2008, was named to the Summit League All-Newcomer Team.
BY THE NUMBERS: This is how the Leathernecks stack up with the rest of Summit League as a team... 273 shots (2nd).... 23 goals (4th)... 16 assists (4th)... 31 goals allowed (6th)... 62 points (4th)... 1.35 goals per game (4th)... 0.94 assists per game (5th)... Victoria Kappel also ranks near the top of the league in a few individual categories... Kappel is third with her 75 saves and 3rd with her four shutouts... Kellie Julius is tied for 10th with her 35 total shots this season.
TOURNAMENT INTRIGUE: North Dakota State and South Dakota State have both clinched spots in the 2011 Summit League Tournament with identical 7-0-1 league records... the final two spots are up for grabs this weekend... UMKC is currently sitting in third with a 5-1-1 league mark... four teams are hunting for the fourth and final spot... Oakland is in the spot now with a 4-2-1 record with Oral Roberts (3-3-1), IPFW (2-4-1) and IUPUI (2-4-1) all giving chase. The Summit League Tournament will be played on Nov. 4-6 in Rochester, Mich.
PROGRAM RECORD BOOK: The Purple & Gold are climbing the lists in a few of the record book's team categories... currently the Leathernecks are averaging 16.06 shots per game which is a program record... the 273 total shots this season ranks fifth all-time... Western is averaging 3.65 points per game, which is sixth all-time and has collected 62 total points, which ranks eighth all-time.
DEFENDING HOME TURF: The loss in Macomb on Friday, Oct. 7 was the first home defeat since Oct. 18, 2009... the home unbeaten streak stretched 12 matches (9-0-3)... in 2009, both South Dakota State and North Dakota State visited Macomb during the same weekend and both left with victories, marking the last time Western went winless during a weekend at home before this most recent weekend... under Coach Guinn the Leathernecks are 24-8-5 (.717) on MacKenzie Alumni Field including unbeaten seasons at home in 2007 (8-0) and 2010 (5-0-3).
EVEN DISTRIBUTION: Western has had 18 different Leathernecks score goals this season... surpassing 2010's mark of 13... the goal-scoring group of 2011 includes four newcomers.
RARE AIR: The Oct. 13 win over Southern Utah marked the first time Western Illinois defeated the Thunderbirds in Cedar City, Utah... powered by two goals from Amber Davis (both assisted by Nora Potempa) the Leathernecks won the sixth meeting ever in Utah (0-4-1).
STRENGTH THE PENGUIN: Shaymus Guinn, son of head coach Tony Guinn, recently entered the hospital to begin his second fight against cancer... After overcoming Ewing's sarcoma, Guinn now must face A.L.L. leukemia... Shaymus had made previous road trips this season, including to Iowa City, and was an inspiration on the sideline for the team. Shaymus will be alongside the team on Friday in the form of his favorite animal, a penguin... In honor of Shaymus, Coach Guinn has asked the team to represent his son by bringing a penguin, named Strength, to all games and practices... read more about the story here.
QUINN: Freshman M/D Trisha Quinn was involved in every goal against SIUE and Drake and all three started with Quinn taking a corner kick... in the win over SIUE she collected an assist and a goal in a late first half flurry, both on her corner kicks... against Drake she again provided the offense with a corner kick that found Katie Condon for the goal... to top her weekend off she earned Summit League Offensive Player of the Week.
FAST START: The 4-1 start was the best start that the Leathernecks have had under Coach Guinn and one of the best in program history.... in 2008 the Purple & Gold started 4-1 before falling to 4-4... in 2007, Western set a program record with 16 wins and started 5-1-1 before improving to 12-1-1 before its next loss.
PRESEASON POLL: The Leathernecks were picked to finish fourth in The Summit League... Head Coach Tony Guinn's squad received 48 points and a first-place vote... Western has become accustomed to exceeding expectations as it was slotted in the fifth-place slot prior to the 2010 season.
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM: Western returns two members of 2010's Summit League All-Freshman team... Kristin Becker and Jordan Spaciel both collected the honor after strong debuts for the Purple & Gold... Spaciel collected four goals and one assist in 20 games and 10 starts and notched the game-winning goal against Green Bay... Becker played a large role in a strong defense and will be asked to do the same in 2011.
TRENDING UPWARD: 2010 saw the Leathernecks put up some impressive numbers as a team... the 10 wins is the third most in program history... the squad also collected nine shutouts, the most in program history... the 76 points last season is fifth all-time... the Purple & Gold put 151 shots on goal, which is second all-time while taking 291 total shots, also second all-time.
CLUTCH: Last season the Purple & Gold won four of the last five regular season games to qualify for the Summit League Tournament... the program has reached the tournament three out of the last four seasons.
HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICAN: The strong recruiting class will offer exceptional depth and talent across the board... included in that class is NSCAA All-American, Sarah Hall... Hall was named All-State after she finished her prep career with 88 goals, 33 of which came as a senior... she also dished out 20 assists and was a Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year candidate.
