Lady Toppers set to open home slate against FIU

Ian Fleischman

The Lady Toppers (2-1), (1-0, C- USA) are set to play their first home game of the season against FIU (2-3) on March 4 at 6 p.m.

WKU is riding on a two-game winning streak, hoping it will continue against Conference USA opponent FIU.

The Lady Toppers have shown resilience this season, and senior defender Avery Jacobsen is a key component for their success so far. 

Coming off a C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honor for her spectacular play against Southern Illinois one week ago, Jacobsen lit up the field against Middle Tennessee with one goal and an assist.

Another notable Lady Topper is junior midfielder Ambere Barnett. She has been a huge component on the Lady Toppers’ offensive side with two goals and one assist in the last two games. Look for her to keep creating more shots on the goal Thursday against the Lady Panthers.

The Lady Panthers are coming off a two-game losing streak, and they
will be playing their first conference game after having their Marshall game postponed.

The Lady Panthers junior midfielder Ronja Cronvall has been a solid asset this season, scoring two goals in their past three games. Look for her to be creating shots on the goal for the Lady Panthers.

The Lady Panthers can turn their season around with a win against the Lady Toppers. The key to the game for the Lady Toppers is their top-notch defense. If the Lady Panthers can get the best of the Lady Topper defense and prevent Jacobsen and Barnett from taking shots they will be in good shape.

The Lady Toppers will then continue their homestand against Centre College on March 6 at 3 p.m. Centre College will have played their season opener against Depauw on March 2 at 4:30 p.m.

Centre College hasn’t played since 2019 when they went (21-0-1), (7-0, SAA). It looks to be a dangerous adversary for the Lady Toppers as they have many experienced players from their 2019 team returning.

The Lady Toppers will have to do their best to shut down senior forward Alana Hughes who tallied 24 goals and 20 assists in Centre College’s 2019 campaign. If they don’t manage to shut her down, Centre College could potentially snap the Lady Toppers’ winning streak.

Centre College will have their work cut out for them as well as dealing with a Lady Topper team that’s playing at a high level. Look for Jacobsen and Barnett to be utilized heavily for the Lady Toppers’ gameplan to stretch their winning-streak.

Soccer beat reporter Ian Fleischman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ian_fleischman.