Kearney, Neb. – The final two regular season games will decide the fate of the 2014 Nebraska-Kearney women's soccer team.

Eight teams advance to next week's eight-team MIAA Tournament and UNK (4-10-2, 4-7-1) is currently in seventh place with 13 points.

Kearney is at home this weekend, facing third place Fort Hays State (10-4-2, 8-2-2) and ninth place Emporia State (5-6-5, 2-5-5). Check the soccer schedule page for media and ticket links.

A "Blue Out" is planned for Thursday's 6:30 p.m. tilt with the Tigers. On Sunday, four seniors will be honored prior to the 1:00 p.m. kickoff against the Hornets.

Earlier this year in Kansas, UNK out shot Hays 11-6 through 90 minutes but the game went into extra time knotted at zero.

The Tigers managed six of the seven shots in the first OT period but the game remained scoreless. Finally, in the 108th minute, senior Hailey Davey scored from the top of the box after taking a pass from freshman Kelsey Steffens.

This pair ranks 1-2 on the Tigers in scoring, Steffens with 17 points (six goals and five assists) and Davey having 15 (nine assists and three goals). With 25 goals, the fourth most in the MIAA, the Tigers have five others between four and eight points.

Defensively, keeper Kristen Thompson has made 68 saves to post a 0.60 GAA. Playing every minute this fall, she has a league-high 10 shut outs.

Another defensive test will come Sunday in the form of an ESU squad that has allowed only 11 goals in 12 MIAA contests. Keeper Yadira Rivera has six shut out six and has the second most saves (99) in the conference. She stopped 12 Loper shots in a 0-0 (2 OT) tie between the clubs on October 24th.

Having 16 goals in 16 games, the Hornet offense is paced by freshman Grace Linton, who has 12 points on six goals.

UNK has made the push into the conference tournament race by going 3-1-1 in its last five MIAA games. For the season, the Lopers are also 3-3-0 at home.

Junior keeper Katelin Mielke (Millard West) is 3-6-1 on the season, posting a 1.59 GAA with 37 saves. She has two shut outs in the last four contests.

Nine of her teammates have scored at least one goal with junior Montanna Hosterman (Papillion) having five. The co-captain is the only Loper with more than one goal so far.

Two of Hosterman's goals came this past Sunday in a 3-1 victory at Washburn. The offensive output was a season-high and the most goals by the Lopers since September 2013.

UNK has registered 93 shots on goal to date, an average of 5.82 per game. That mark ranks fourth highest in the Lopers limited history. Last year's club set the standard at 6.58. Hosterman (22) and freshman Carly Brown (15) rank 1-2 on the team in SOG's.

On Sunday, Kearney will say good bye to seniors Lauren Hoeft (Holdrege), Delanie Phillips (Millard West) Jillian Stoumbaugh (Westminster, Colo.) and Kaitlyn Taylor (Millard West).
Each has been a four-year member of the program.

Another member of that recruiting class, Ashtin Pawloski (Hastings), is still on the Lopers but has missed 2013 and 2014 due to injury. She is slated to come back in 2015.