WKU faces MTSU, hopes to improve seeding
October 28, 2011
With only one game left in the
regular season, WKU has already secured its spot in next week’s Sun
Belt Tournament. Now, the Lady Toppers look to improve upon their
projected fifth seed.
WKU will enter Friday night’s
showdown with Middle Tennessee State one spot below the Lady
Raiders in the Sun Belt Conference standings. If WKU wins, it will
take MTSU’s fourth seed for the tournament. If the team loses or
ties, they will more than likely still receive the fifth
spot.
Either way, it’s likely that WKU
will play MTSU in the first-round of the tournament next Wednesday
in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Last year MTSU beat the Lady Toppers
twice, including a shootout victory in the semifinals of last
year’s tournament. WKU is 2-4-5 lifetime against MTSU. This year,
the seniors want to go out with a big win over their rival on their
senior night.
“I have a lot of emotion from the
game from last year,” senior forward Lindsey Goad said. “Just the
feeling of revenge and not losing at home is really important to me
for our last conference game.”
The two teams will square off at 6
p.m. Friday at the WKU Soccer Complex. The Lady Toppers have never
been defeated by MTSU at home. Seniors Libby Stout, Lindsay
Williams, Lindsey Goad, Mallory Outerbridge, Kelsey Meyer, Kaylyn
Pratt and Amanda Buechel will be honored before the
game.
For senior and midfielder Kelsey
Meyer, the game Friday night is a way to get the team ready for the
tournament and, more than likely, MTSU again.
“The Middle game is just really
important,” she said. “So just getting that first win will give us
confidence for the second game against them.”
Goad said the game on Friday will
help to set the tone for the tournament.
“It will show them
that we deserve to go farther than the first round of the
tournament and that we can beat them,” she said. “I think that will
give everyone a lot of confidence going into the next game, showing
them we can win and make it farther than we did last
year.”
Head Coach Jason Neidell has been
stressing all year that the regular season is there to prepare the
team for postseason play. Now, with only one game left and a spot
secured in the tournament, he said the team just needs to get a few
things in order.
“I think the team chemistry is a lot
better (than past teams),” he said. “This team has been more
consistent in its work ethic day in and day out in both training
and in games. I think that if we finish the chances that we create
we can go from a good team to a great team.”