MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois (5-2) women's soccer will begin its longest road trip of the season with four road matches on Sunday, Sept. 18 when it travels to Green Bay (2-5-2) for a 2 p.m. clash.

Summit League opponents South Dakota and UMKC wait for the Leathernecks at the end of the road trip.

Eastern Illinois stole a victory from the Purple & Gold after an own goal gave the Panthers a 1-0 win. The Leathernecks were able to defeat Grand View easily on Sunday afternoon, 7-2. All seven goals were the first of the season for its respective goal scorer.

The Match Up
Who • Western Illinois (5-2) at Green Bay (2-5-2)
When • Sunday, Sept. 18 (2 p.m. CST)
Location • Green Bay, Wis. • Santaga Stadium (1,500)

Coverage
Live Stats • GreenBayPhoenix.com

Twitter • @WIUAthletics

SCOUTING THE PHOENIX: Head Coach Trevor Warren (Newcastle, 1978) is in his fourth season as the leader of the Phoenix... in 2010 Green Bay went 3-9-4 and 1-5-2 in the Horizon League... the squad returns eight players and welcomes 13 newcomers from last season including seven starters... this will be the first ever meeting between Green Bay and Western Illinois...before Western invades Green Bay the Phoenix will begin league play with Valparaiso on Friday... Green Bay and Western Illinois have had seven common opponents so far in 2011 including three Summit League foes (South Dakota, NDSU, SDSU) and soon to be Summit member Nebraska-Omaha.

PHOENIX TO WATCH: Hekla Palmadottir (Akranes, Iceland) is off to a fast start to her sophomore season with three goals and two assists... freshman Hannah Kernen has added a goal and two assists to the offensive attack... freshman Abby Juzwik and freshman Jenna Harrington have added goals... senior goalkeeper Maddie Drusch was named All-Horizon League Second Team in 2010 and has made 55 saves while allowing 7 goals in 2011.

HOMECOMING?: Western Illinois features 10 players from the state of Wisconsin... head coach Tony Guinn also returns close to his home near Green Bay... this is the first time that the Leathernecks have played near Green Bay under Coach Guinn.

EVERYONE'S DOING IT: Seven Leathernecks got into the scoring column on Sunday in the 7-2 win over Grand View including Amy Unzicker, who joined the roster after competing on the women's tennis team for the last two seasons... Taylor Henning also added a goal on her first touch of the match in the 69th minute after subbing in at the 68th minute.

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 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... on Sunday, 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.

FRESHMAN KEEPER: The Purple & Gold knew it was going to be forced into relying on a newcomer to handle the goalkeeping duties in 2011 after Laura Atkinson opted to take a redshirt season... Victoria Kappel has been a key part of the Leathernecks record start to 2011... she has three shutouts and 27 saves to her name.

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.

BIG SHOES: The Purple & Gold will have to replace some of the most decorated athletes in program history... Departed senior defender Jenny Green has a laundry list of awards and recognition including 2010 Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and 2010 First Team All-Summit League... other notable names that will need to be replaced are 2010 seniors Caitlin Barrett, Kelly Diershow, Ali Smyth, Jill Kevorkian and Kendra Wilkening.

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.

DEFENDING HOME TURF: Western Illinois has not lost at home since Oct. 18, 2009 (9-0-3)... Sunday's win over Grand View continued that undefeated streak... under Coach Guinn the leathernecks are 24-6-5 (.788) on MacKenzie Alumni Field including unbeaten season at home in 2007 (8-0) and 2010 (5-0-3).

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-America, 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.

2011 SENIORS: This season will  be the final one for four longtime Leathernecks... Laura Lins, Nora Potempa, Kristin Kuhar and Lauren DeWolf all have played their entire careers for the Purple & Gold... Amy Unzicker will also exhaust her athletic eligibility this season.