Lady Toppers to begin conference play at Marshall

WKU+Hiltoppers+junior+midfielder+Lucy+Lyon+%2819%29+competes+against+Ole+Miss+Rebels+senior+Channing+Foster+%2812%29+for+control+of+the+ball+during+the+Sunday+afternoon+match.

ARTHUR TRICKETT-WILE

WKU Hiltoppers’ junior midfielder Lucy Lyon (19) competes against Ole Miss Rebels’ senior Channing Foster (12) for control of the ball during the Sunday afternoon match.

Drew Toennies, Soccer reporter

The Lady Toppers (5-1-0) resume their season on the road Thursday night with the Marshall Thundering Herd (3-4-1) set to welcome WKU to Huntington, West Virginia to kick off Conference USA-play.

The Lady Toppers concluded a challenging non-conference slate on Sunday afternoon in a 1-0 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. The defeat snapped WKU’s nine-game home winning streak.

Junior forward Katie Erwin remains one of WKU’s most important offensive weapons, totaling seven points off two goals and three assists throughout the first week of the season. The Louisville native earned the first C-USA Offensive player of the Week award of the soccer season following strong performances against both Austin Peay and Union University.

Graduate defender Avery Jacobsen has been another strong offensive presence for the Lady Toppers, notching six points so far on two goals and two assists. The Las Vegas native was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week following WKU’s upset defeat of Vanderbilt.

The Thundering Herd concluded their non-conference slate on Sunday, scoring three goals in a shut-out defeat of the Virginia Military Institute.

The Herd started the season with an 0-3 record against non-conference foes, suffering a 2-1 loss to Wright State in double overtime, a 3-0 loss to Kentucky and a 2-0 loss to Ohio University.

Since that slow start, Marshall has collected a 1-1 draw with Morehead State, a 2-1 defeat of Youngstown State, a 2-0 shut out of Akron, a 2-0 loss to Radford and a win over VMI.

Senior forward Kat Gonzalez is the top offensive player on Marshall’s roster so far this season, contributing seven points on three goals and one assist.

Freshman forward Meg Jarvis is the next-best scorer on the Herd’s roster with a trio of goals to her name.

The Lady Toppers will take the field at Hoops Family Field in Huntington Thursday night to kick off their conference slate. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.

Soccer reporter Drew Toennies can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @drew_toennies.