Believe it or not, there is a four-way tie for the runner-up position in the MAC standings between Bowling Green, Buffalo, Ohio, and Central Michigan, but one team stands above those fighting for second.
That team is the Western Michigan Broncos (6-1-5, 3-0-2 MAC) who surged to the top of the MAC standings after an intense week of soccer that saw Buffalo take a draw while WMU piled three goals on Kent State for their third MAC win of the season. propelling them to first place overall.
Western Michigan will battle the Falcons on Thursday afternoon at WMU Soccer Complex in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Oct. 10 at 4 p.m.
Bowling Green’s match over Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon saw consistent second-half possession resulting in a 2-1 win for the Falcons after all three goals came within seven minutes, although split between halves.
Western Michigan’s statistical profile features a hefty resume of 23 goals against, good for second best in the MAC, and eight against, good for third best in the MAC.
BG’s offensive surge has propelled them up to 15 goals on the season, which stands at eighth best in the MAC. They have been slightly behind Western Michigan with 10 goals against, tied for fourth least in the conference.
Scouting the Past
Success is strewn throughout the record books of both illustrious women’s soccer programs thanks to some great head coaches who lake the groundwork at these schools, whether it be Matt Fannon and Jimmy Walker for BG or Nate Norman and current head coach Lewis Robinson in the 2020s and 2010s or Western Michigan’s Mike Haines and BG’s Andy Richards of the 2000s.
Bowling Green’s six MAC championships are the most out of any team in the conference’s 28-year tournament history, but Western Michigan isn’t far behind with three of their own, most recently in 2015 under Nate Norman.
Bowling Green has struggled in the all-time series with the Broncos, as a 10-18-3 puts them well behind the ball. The series has been kind to the Falcons lately, however, avoiding loss in their last six with a 4-0-2 record dating back to 2018.
Don’t look beyond that however if you are a Falcon fan, as the team lost 10 straight to the Broncos in a miserable stint that lasted from 2009 until their final loss in Kalamazoo in 2017.
It’s also worth noting Bowling Green’s 2023 MAC tournament semifinal loss to Ohio, which came at the WMU Soccer Complex in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Falcons to Watch
This week’s MAC Offensive Player of the Week is on a hot streak in her last four games, scoring three goals in the span to give her a total of nine points on the season, most on the Falcon team.
Czerwien was everywhere in last Saturday’s Falcon win over Northern Illinois, hence the award, given to her courtesy of a three-point day with a goal and an assist.
The hot streak doesn’t seem to be ending soon with a veteran player who seems to be thriving within BGSU head coach Chris Fox’s system, and she will look to crack an intense Bronco defense in Thursday afternoon’s matchup.
The Pitt transfer has seen an increase in minutes in the past three games for the Falcons after playing only 81 minutes across only two of the first eight games of the season, Simqu has seen 173 in the past three games alone.
Simqu has found her way to a prominent role in the defensive crew that features captain Isabelle Gilmore and sophomore standout Taylor Green, and after a good defensive performance that saw her take on and win crucial matchups and challenges throughout the matchup with the Huskies, she will be looking to back it up against Western Michigan.
Broncos to Watch
When the Grandville, Michigan native transferred from Indiana to Western Michigan after leading the Hoosiers in points as a sophomore in the 2021 fall season, it wasn’t a surprise to see all that she has accomplished in Kalamazoo.
Blitchok has 11 goals on the season, four more than Taylor Hamlett of Miami (OH) who sits in second place with seven, and she earned her first career hat trick in a 6-0 Bronco win over the RedHawks of Oxford on Sept. 22.
She is undisputably the best striker in the Mid-American Conference and one of the best in the nation, and in her final year, she is in her prime and she will be hungry for another stellar offensive performance on Thursday afternoon.
Dean will play her first and only regular season game against her former team that she captained and played over 4000 minutes across four seasons.
Dean transferred to Western Michigan after the 2023 season and has picked up right where she left off at the end of her tenure with Bowling Green, already playing nearly 700 minutes in 12 games and 11 starts.
She earned her first goal as a Bronco in their 6-0 victory over Miami (OH) and she has also amassed two assists, one each in non-conference bids against Wisconsin and Detroit Mercy.
What could be her last game against her former team would be a bittersweet moment for the graduate student midfielder, and it would increase the tension between the two bitter MAC foes.
