Fighting Leathernecks Slated for Summit League Faceoff at IUPUI

Western looks to extend its 7 game unbeaten streak on Saturday (Oct. 25) in Indianapolis, Ind.

MACOMB, Ill. - Summit League leading Western Illinois men's soccer is set to return to conference play this Saturday, October 25 at IUPUI in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Leathernecks will look to extend their seven-game unbeaten streak against the Jaguars and clinch a berth in The Summit League Conference Tournament. The 3-0 start for the Purple and Gold is the program's best since 2006.

MATCH LOGISTICS

WHO: Western Illinois at IUPUI
WHEN: Saturday, October 25 at 6 p.m. (CT)
WHERE: Michael A. Carroll Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind.
LIVE STATS: HERE
SOCIAL MEDIA: @WIUMensSoccer

GAME NOTES:

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS: Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, or IUPUI welcomes Western to Indianapolis with a Summit League record of 1-2 and an overall mark of 4-7-1, sitting two points out of a Summit League Tournament berth... The Jaguars season has been a roller coaster with four and five goal losses to Dayton and Fort Wayne combined with victories over Eastern Illinois and Cincinnati... Head coach Isang Jacob is in his fourth season at the helm... Over three seasons Jacob has accumulated a record of 14-32-9... In its last action, IUPUI faced Summit League foe, Oral Roberts on the road in Tulsa, Okla., the Jaguars led for most of the game until ORU knocked home two goals in the final 25 minutes... Freshmen Uriel Macias and Emmanuel Usen are the leaders for the IUPUI attack with six and five goals respectively... Both freshmen have 12 points which ties them for the league lead in total points... Junior goalkeeper Eduardo Cortes has taken over the starting role from Sophomore Christian Lomeli... In eight games this season Cortes has allowed 17 goals and made 46 saves...

SERIES HISTORY: Saturday's game is the 20th meeting between WIU and IUPUI in program history... The Leathernecks trail in the series 8-10-1 after going 2-3 against the Jaguars over the past five seasons... November 2, 2013 marks the last meeting between the two Summit League teams... Western hosted the Jaguars in Macomb and walked away with a decisive 5-0 victory... The 2013 matchup is the last time WIU notched more than three goals in a single game.

LAST TIME OUT: Western Illinois (8-4-2, 3-0) enters the weekend unbeaten over the last seven games... The last action for the Leathernecks was a midweek nonconference road match against Drake on October 21 in Des Moines, Iowa... In a match that featured a combined 42 total shots, Western battled the Bulldogs to a 1-1 draw... Charlie Bales led the team with six shots (three on goal) and tallied the lone goal in the match on a Mario Alvarez assist in the 44th minute... Prior to the Drake match, WIU traveled to Eastern Illinois on Saturday (Oct. 18) and defeated the Panthers 1-0 to move to a perfect 3-0 in The Summit League.. Mario Alvarez recorded his third goal of the season in Saturday's game as the senior knocked home a rebound off of his own shot.

STILL UNBEATEN: With the draw against Drake, Western remains undefeated over the last seven games... The Drake goal capped what was previously the longest active shutout streak in NCAA Division I at 586:18 minutes... The Leathernecks last defeat came at the hands of regionally ranked Valparaiso in the 105th minute in a double overtime thriller.

PERFECT START: The Leatherneck's 3-0 record in The Summit League marks the programs best start since the Purple and Gold started 3-0 in 2006... 2014 is only the third 3-0 start to conference play since 2000 ('00, '06)... In addition to its undefeated record, Western has yet to surrender a goal to a Summit League opponent.

ONE OF 'THE BEST AROUND': Goalkeeper Yves Dietrich recorded a career high 11 saves against Drake on Tuesday (Oct. 21)... Dietrich's 11 saves tie the senior for 9th in Western history for saves in one game... The captain did not allow a goal in 586:18 minutes of play, which was previously the longest active shutout streak in NCAA Division I... Despite ending the streak against Drake, Dietrich still boasts a .68 goals against average which ranks 5th in the nation as of October 21... The German native also ranks fifth in the country in saves with 72... He leads The Summit League in seven statistical categories and is in WIU's career 'Top 10' in seven rankings as well.

THE BACK LINE: The Leatherneck defensive back line is made up of Charlie Bales, Erick Bloom, Ben Fiddes, and Jacob Bjornsen... Besides, Bales, the back line has recorded a combined nine shots but held opponents to five or less shots on goal in three of the last six games.

HE'S GOT A GOLDEN TICKET: Senior defensemen Charlie Bales has scored a team leading six goals in 2014 and is tied for the lead in total points (14) in The Summit League... Since starting the season with eight shots and no points in the first four games, Bales has posted 26 shots, five goals and one assist over the last six games... In Western's game against Northern Kentucky the captain notched his first career multi-goal game, converting two out two penalty kick opportunities... He is currently ranked in WIU's career 'Top 10' in four statistical categories... Bales made it to the 'Final 30' for the men's soccer Senior CLASS award that is given to one NCAA Division I senior.

QUALITY NOT QUANTITY: In 2014 the Purple and Gold have been outshot by their opponents 200-174... Despite the discrepancy in attempts, Western has outscored their foes 18-10 with a shot percentage of .103 compared to .050 from the opposition.

A GAME OF TWO HALVES: The Leathernecks are 8-1-2 in 2014 when scoring first and 6-1-2 when leading at halftime... Western's only loss when scoring first came against regionally ranked Valparaiso on Sept. 19... WIU has not lost since Sept. 19... The Purple and Gold have outscored their foes 11-1 in the first 45 minutes in 2014... In the second half this season, opponents have outshot Western 118-78 but only tied in scoring 7-7... Western Illinois has not lost a match by more than one goal all season and has held opponents to an average of .71 goals per game.