Women's Soccer Conference Play Set to Kick Off

After a month of non-conference action, the Horizon League season kicks into full swing on Friday night with three conference matches.  Wright State heads to Loyola, while Milwaukee travels to Youngstown State and Cleveland State hosts Green Bay.

Through nine matches, Milwaukee, Valparaiso and Cleveland State sit atop the standings with 14 points each and identical 4-3-2 records.  Detroit is narrowly behind with 12 points and a 3-3-2 mark.

The top four teams entering conference play will all meet on Sunday, as Detroit hosts Valpo at 12 p.m. ET while the Panthers complete their road trip by paying the Vikings a visit in Cleveland.  The CSU-UWM match can be seen on the Horizon League Network, beginning at 12 p.m..

The meeting between Milwaukee and Cleveland State pits two of the league's players of the week against one another, as current Horizon League Player of the Week Sarah Hagen (Appleton, Wis.) leads a Panther offense averaging a league-best 12.33 shots per game against the Vikings' Natalie Daniels (Olympia, Wash.), who won league honors on Aug. 30.  Cleveland State leads the Horizon League with a 1.6 goals per game average.

Daniels paces the Horizon League in points, with 16, while Hagen sits atop the conference in shots (36) and shots per game (4).

After meeting Oakland in a non-conference tilt on Friday, Butler will host Wright State on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET, while Green Bay will look to bring their stifling defense to Youngstown State in a 1 p.m. ET match with the Penguins.  Entering conference play, the Phoenix have allowed just four goals on the year, while goalkeeper Maddie Drusch (Appleton, Wis.) is fifth in the NCAA in save percentage, stopping 92.9-percent of all shots in her direction.

Youngstown State's Allison Ludwig (Centerville, Ohio) will look to keep up her impressive freshman season during the weekend, as the Penguins take on Milwaukee on Friday and the stingy Phoenix on Sunday.  Ludwig, who earned conference player of the week honors in her first collegiate week, has 14 points on the strength of 7 goals, tying her with CSU's Daniels for the league lead.

Fans can watch the Green Bay-Youngstown State matchup live on the Horizon League Network beginning at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.  HLN will also stream the Wright State-Loyola match at 6 p.m. ET on Friday evening.