OPENING WHISTLE
Indiana State continues their season-long, three-match home stand on Friday, September 14 at 7 pm (ET) when they host Western Michigan. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available on GoSycamores.com.

Head coach Julie Hanley, in her third season at the helm, led ISU to their first conference tournament appearance since 2013 after a fourth place finish in the 2016 campaign. She then led the Sycamores to a nail biting penalty kick win over the Drake Bulldogs in the MVC Tournament to secure a spot in the semifinals. Thus far in 2018, she has led the Sycamores to four road wins for the first time since 2013 and is currently on a school-record string of four consecutive road matches without a defeat.

Katie Wells is in the midst of her senior season for the Sycamores. She was named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Team after taking home second team all-league honors one year ago and first team plaudits as a sophomore. This season she leads the team with four points as she scored a goal at SIU Edwardsville and became just the 15th player in the history of the program to record two assists in one match with her pair at Akron. She scored her 17th career goal when she tallied a pair of scores on September 9 against Rose-Hulman. She leads the team with 14 points this year.

Indiana State has amassed an impressive 5-2-2 record so far this season, even more impressive considering that the first eight of those came on the road. In fact, the Sycamores have now won or tied five matches in a row which marks the first time since 2013 that Indiana State has enjoyed a streak of success that long. Indiana State enjoyed undefeated streaks of six matches three times (in 2006, 2010 & 2013) which is a record for the program.

The Sycamores are 5-0-1 this season when scoring at least one goal and are 5-1-1 when allowing one goal or less. When pitching a shutout, the Sycamores are 3-0-1.

The Valley on ESPN, part of the Missouri Valley Conference's media rights agreement with ESPN, will feature most home soccer matches from all eight MVC institutions on the ESPN+ and the ESPN3 streaming platforms. The HD-quality telecasts are available on the ESPN app. Seven Sycamore games will be featured on ESPN+ while four will be shown live world wide on ESPN3.

MATCH PREVIEW 
Indiana State and Western Michigan are meeting for just the second time ever.

The two teams have not met since August 20, 2010 when the Broncos won 3-2 at Memorial Stadium.

The Sycamores are looking to win each of their first two home matches for the first time since 2016.

Indiana State enters Friday's match atop the Missouri Valley Conference leaderboard with 17 points amassed through nine non-conference contests.

Katie Wells Named MVC Offensive Player of The Week
Indiana State senior Katie Wells tallied three goals and was credited with a pair of assists as the Sycamores went undefeated last weekend against Eastern Illinois and Rose-Hulman. Wells began the week by scoring the Sycamores' final goal in a come-from-behind 3-1 victory at Eastern Illinois. This was after she recorded two assists in the same contest. Then, playing against her younger sister Jessica, on Sunday versus Rose-Hulman she tallied both of the Sycamores' goals in the win. Wells has scored at least one goal in each of ISU's last three matches and has recorded at least two points in each of the last four. She now has 50 points for her career which is third-best in the history of the program while her 17 career goals are No. 6 and her 16 assists rank No. 5. Wells recorded two goals in the same game for the third time in her career when she accomplished the feat against Rose-Hulman.

Road Tested, Road Approved
The Sycamores found historic success on the road over the last two weeks as they put together a with a 3-0-1 record in road contests at Illinois-Chicago, Wright State, Akron and Eastern Illinois. It marked the first time in the history of the program that the Sycamores have gone four consecutive road matches without a defeat. Indiana State has already won four road matches this season, doing so for the first time since 2012.

Katie Wells -- Owning The Sycamore Record Book
Senior Katie Wells, an Indianapolis (Warren Central HS) native currently ranks third best in school history with 50 career points scored and third all-time with 0.82 points scored per match. Her 17 career goals are tied for fifth most in school history. She needs one more point to catch Maddie Orf (51 points) for second-best in the program's history. She needs two more goals to catch Nichole Tiggs & Clair Hemkens for third on the ISU career goals scored chart with 19. She also owns 16 career assists which is second-best on the ISU career chart and only four behind Laura Podolski for the school record. Wells became the 15th Sycamore to record exactly two assists in a match when she did so at Akron and then again at Eastern Illinois. Wells owns a share of the school record from when she had three assists at Chicago State in 2016. She has scored two goals in a match three times in her career.

For Home Openers
Indiana State improved to 10-9 all-time in home opening games, winning their first game at Memorial Stadium for the sixth consecutive season when they defeated Rose-Hulman 2-0 on Sunday, September 9. It marked the latest the Sycamores have opened the home schedule since they defeated Chicago State on September 14, 2014.

We're So Clancy!
Indiana State freshman Sara Clancy continued her solid contributions for the Sycamores in the defensive territory for the Sycamores. Clancy and the Sycamores allowed just six shots, including only three on goal in victories over Eastern Illinois and Rose-Hulman. A contributor in all phases, Clancy handles most of the throw ins for the team and her long and high throws have been a weapon in setting up offensive attacks this week. The Sycamores recorded five goals this week, two of which started with Clancy throw ins.

What A First (And Only) Collegiate Shot!
Indiana State sophomore Camryn DeGrafft entered Wednesday night's game at Illinois-Chicago having played 113 career minutes and never taken a shot in nine matches played. That all changed in the blink of an eye in the 32nd minute against the Flames. DeGrafft was the recipient of a cross field pass at the 20 yard mark and instead of making a pass into the large group in front of the net, she took a shot which dropped right over the Flames goalkeeper and into the back of the net. It was DeGrafft's first career shot and she found the back of the net for the game winner against UIC!

Ready Eddy
Indiana State senior Caitlyn Eddy provided a quick strike for the Sycamore offense on August 24 as ISU used a trio of first half goals to own a 3-1 victory over SIU Edwardsville. Eddy's goal was the first of the year for the Sycamores and the first for her personally at Indiana State. It also came in quick fashion as she scored with just 2:24 elapsed off the clock. It was the fourth fastest goal scored in the 18-year history of the ISU women's soccer program and the fastest since Leah Galton found the back of the net against Hofstra in just 84 seconds on September 7, 2014. The fastest goal scored ever at ISU was Alison Gasparovich who scored in a 1:20 against Valparaiso on September 24, 2010.

Katie and Katie Plus Eight
Indiana State senior Katie Wells recorded a pair of assists in the Sycamores' 3-1 victory on September 7 at Eastern Illinois. She added a goal to score four points in the contest. The benefactor of both of Well's assists was sophomore Katie Sidloski who scored a pair of goals -- one late in the first half and the eventual game winner early in the second half -- in the victory. Sidloski joins a host of other Sycamores to record two goals in a single match. She entered the game with just one career goal scored and doubled her career production by finding the back of the net twice.

UP NEXT 
The current three match home stand concludes on Sunday, September 16 when they host Chicago State at 1 pm (ET) inside Memorial Stadium. The match will be televised nationally on ESPN+.