Outerbridge Ends Home Career in Dramatic Fashion

In the final home game of the season, the Lady Toppers soccer team faced the Lady Raiders of Middle Tennessee State University. For seven lady toppers, it would be the last time they took the field at the WKU Soccer Complex. This game had very little implications on the season, as the two teams would face off in the first round of the Sunbelt Conference Tournament regardless of the result. However, neither team appeared to take this game lightly.
The two teams were evenly matched early on as both teams had several scoring opportunities. However, in the 30th minute, the Lady Toppers would finally capitalize. The Lady Toppers broke the tie on a Lindsey Williams’ corner kick. Williams played the corner kick in to Chrissy Tchoula, and the ball deflected off senior forward Amanda Buechel and into the back of the net. The Tops would take this lead into half time.
Once again in the second half, Middle Tennessee would have plenty of chances to score. MTSU took the first four shots of the half, but failed to find the net on any of these opportunities. The Hilltoppers held their lead late in the game before MTSU finally tied the game in the 82nd minute on a Regina Thomas goal. The score remained tied at the end of regulation and forced the game into golden-goal overtime.
The stage was set. One goal, ten minutes, one final home game for seven lady toppers. Both sides had their chances, but heading into the final seconds of the game, redshirt-senior forward Mallory Outerbridge once again became the hero. Outerbridge netted a goal past the diving Rebecca Cushing for the 2-1 win with 13 seconds left in overtime. Outerbridge left the fans with one last impression of her WKU career: one of greatness, poise, and the ability to score under pressure. For the final time in her career, Outerbridge left the WKU Soccer Complex on top.
With the win, WKU secured the 4th place seed for the Sunbelt Tournament, while MTSU fell to the 5th seed. The two teams will face off in the first round on November 2nd at 1 PM. The game could go either way, but WKU may find momentum coming off this overtime win against MTSU.

WKU Wins at Home

On Saturday, the Hilltopper football team did something they haven’t done in 1,127 days. For the first time in 3 years, they left L.T. Smith Stadium winners. Heading into the game, many students were optimistic, but on paper, the Rajin’ Cajuns of the University of Louisiana Lafayette were heavy favorites. ULL entered the game boasting a 6-1 record with the lone loss coming from #3 Oklahoma State. The Rajin’ Cajuns were looking for a big game out of Bobby Rainey, but there was no way to predict that both Rainey (RB) and Kawaun Jakes (QB) would have a career day.

The Hilltoppers started off strong with their first drive ending with a 1-yard TD run by Bobby Rainey. From this point on, the Hilltoppers would never lose the lead. This was due in part to an exceptional offensive performance all around lead by Jakes and Rainey. Jakes arguably had the best game of his career completing 15 of his 18 passes for 242 yards and a touch down. This performance prevented the defense from expecting the run and forced them to play deep. This opened up the field and Rainey took advantage. Rainey ran for 206 yards on 32 carries and found the endzone a career high 3 times. This exceptional performance earned Rainey national recognition. He received an ESPN College Gameday helmet sticker, along with the honor of being named national running back of the week from the College Football Performance Awards.

The performance on the field was great, as well as the fan support (on the field). The loyal WKU students have been waiting a while to rush the field, and on Saturday they finally got the chance. WKU had its biggest win of the season in front of its home crowd and the Hilltoppers definitely have momentum heading into the final stretch of the season. If the Hilltoppers can secure a win on the road this weekend against the University of Louisiana-Monroe, they will extend their winning streak to four. It would be the first time since 2005 the Hilltoppers have achieved this feat.

If you missed any of the exciting action from the Homecoming win last Saturday, check out this video courtesy of HSSN.

WKU Looking for 3-game Win Streak

The Hilltoppers traveled down to Boca Raton looking to spoil FAU’s new stadium opener. Not only did WKU win the game, but they did two things they haven’t done since 2007. The Hilltoppers not only beat FAU, they shut them out in front of the 29,103 FAU fans. This is WKU’s first shutout since defeating West Virginia Tech 87-0 on September 8, 2007. The win also gave WKU its first winning streak since the 2007 season.

Bobby Rainey was a workforce in the game carrying the ball 34 times for 131 yards and 2 TD.

Defense was in full force for the FAU game allowing only 121 total offensive yards. Peterson and Jackson led the team with 8 tackles. WKU forced 0 turnovers.

Offense and defense might have been the key to this game, but the WKU field goal kicking team must improve. The Hilltopper kickers combined for an 0 for 3 performance. Not only that, but for the season the WKU kickers are a disappointing 20% (2-10) on the season.

Although WKU beat ULL 54-21 last year, ULL is a much better team this year. After falling predictably to Oklahoma St. to open the season, ULL won their next 6 games. ULL has a very balanced rushing and passing offense spread the ball almost equally. QB Blaine Gautier will look to continue his successful season against the questionable WKU secondary. Although WKU has been strong at points throughout the season, there have been games where they have shown huge gaps in coverage. On the season he has completed nearly 65% of his passes and ranks second with 10 passing TD. WKU will also have a tough task of stopping the ULL running game. ULL spread the ball between 3 different running backs, who are all capable of efficiently moving the ball.

Other Notes:

Jack Doyle was named to the Mackey Award Midseason watch list. He is one of 25 others named to the midseason list, which is awarded to the best collegiate Tight End.

Tops look to Create Winning Streak



Rivalries are what college athletics are all about. WKU's only real rival, MTSU, couldn't handle the Hilltoppers last week. WKU took down the Blue Raiders for the first time since 2007 with big games from the usual names. Kawaun Jakes and Bobby Rainey paced the team on offense. Jakes threw for 222 yards and a game winning TD. Rainey had a usual day at the office with 166 yards on the ground while hauling in 6 catches for 57 yards including the game winning snag. Andrew Jackson had his usual swagger leading the defense to an impressive performance. Jackson had nine tackles including one for a safety, while intercepting a key pass in the redzone. WKU now finds itself with momentum heading into a hostile environment in Boca Raton Saturday. FAU may be 0-5 but this weekend is the opening game of their brand new beautiful stadium. Emotions will be high for both teams but when the adreniline fades WKU is the better team on both sides of the ball. Special teams may be another story. Casey Tinius is 1-6 on Field Goal attempts this season and it's killing the team's scoring and overall strategy when it comes to field position. The game marks the mid-point in the season and hopefully a turning point for Tinius and the special teams. Coach Taggart handled the win last week perfectly, showing his happy but unsatisfied demeanor after the game. Taggart will have his game face on this weekend and lead the team to a strong performance despite the opening of the new stadium. Look for returner John Evans and of course Bobby Rainey to have big games Saturday.

WESTERN KENTUCKY DAWG!

WKU Victory Recap

Courtesy of Hilltopper Video