DeKALB | Women’s soccer (4-9-4, 3-5-2 Mid-American Conference) takes on the Western Michigan University Broncos (11-6-1, 5-4-1 MAC) 2 p.m. today in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is the team’s last regular season match before the MAC quarterfinals Sunday.

The Huskies need to defeat Western Michigan for them to be able to participate in the MAC postseason tournament. If the team doesn’t, then it will need Bowling Green State University to either lose or draw against University of Toledo.

The Huskies trail the all-time series with the Broncos 5-12-3 but played the Broncos to a 2-2 draw in the teams’ past meeting on Oct. 29. The Huskies have lost six of the past 10 meetings against the Broncos and have played to a draw three times in the past 10 meetings. NIU last defeated Western Michigan Nov. 1, 2007, by a score of 1-0 on the Bronco’s field.

Sophomore forward Taylor Sarver leads the Huskies in conference play with four goals, one assist and nine points. Freshman forward Natalie Yaas leads the team in conference play with 16 shots but has not been able to net a goal. Senior defender Alex Elias has started all conference games this season and leads the team with 954 minutes in MAC play.

Sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Lee has started the past two matches for NIU and will start the rest of the season after junior goalkeeper Amy Annala suffered a torn ligament in her knee, ending her season, Oct. 16 against University at Buffalo.

The Huskies are fifth in the MAC with a 1.04 goals against average and tied for fourth with Western Michigan in shutouts with a 0.30 average.

Broncos’ sophomore forward Alyssa Burke and senior midfielder Liz Abro lead the team with four goals in conference play. Burke also leads the team in assists (4) and points (12). Abro has registered three assists in MAC play and is one point behind Burke for the team lead in points.

The Broncos lead the conference with 163 shots and 1.50 assists per game. Western Michigan is second in the MAC with 1.90 goals per game.