at Marian (9/18 - 7:00 p.m.): Live Stats I Live Video
Murray State (9/20 - 1:00 p.m.): Live Stats

INDIANAPOLIS - After three straight matches outside the Circle City, the IUPUI women's soccer team returns to Indianapolis for back-to-back matches this weekend, beginning with a Friday night (Sept. 18) tilt at Marian University at 7:00 p.m.. The Jaguars will cap the two-game weekend at home on Sunday when they host Murray State at 1:00 p.m. at Michael A. Carroll Stadium. IUPUI (2-4-1) is coming off back-to-back road losses at Xavier (2-0) and Evansville (2-1) and is 1-2 on the road this season. 

FIRST TIMERS
Senior Lauren Kulaga netted her first career goal in Sunday's 2-1 loss at Evansville, scoring on a header in the game's 28th minute. She becomes the third Jaguar to score her first career goal this season, joining sophomore Leia Peterman and Colorado State-transfer Beth Parks.

QUOTABLE
"I thought Maddie Riedford played well and I thought Cat Schmidt played really well in goal. She sold out on both goals, but really didn't have an opportunity to make a play on either," Head Coach Chris Johnson said. after the loss at Evansville.

CAT IS BACK
After missing the season's first five games, junior Catherine Raster returned to the lineup last week at Xavier. Raster has attempted three shots in her first two appearances of the year and has four career goals and two assists entering this season. 

NEWBIES
Eight different players have made their IUPUI debuts this season, with a combination of two Division-I transfers, two redshirt freshman and four true freshmen. Of the newcomers, Jessica Flores leads the group in minutes played at 284, followed by Braegan Lyon (277) and Denise Veldman (261). 

NUMBERS
-Senior Lauren Kulaga has made 64 career starts and is well on her way to becoming the sixth player in school history to earn 70 career starts.
-Senior Kalli Shepler-Tucker enters play with 14 career assists, one shy of tying Sheri Levack for the program's all-time lead in that category.
-Minnich is the team's active career leader in goals with 14 while Kirkhoff is second with 12. 
-IUPUI has eight players that have started all seven matches so far this season, but have had 15 players start at least one match.
-Senior Grace Perkowitz leads the team's field players in minutes played with 513 and Kulaga is second on the squad with 478 minutes.

AMONG THE LEADERS
Below is a look at where IUPUI players rank in The Summit League statistical leaders entering the weekend:
Goals: Minnich (t-4th / 3), Kirkhoff (t-4th / 3)
Assists: Kirkhoff (t-6th / 2), Minnich (t-6th / 2), Shelton (t-6th / 2)
Points: Minnich (t-4th / 8), Kirkhoff (t-4th / 8)
Shots: Kirkhoff (2nd / 23), Minnich (7th / 17)
Game-Winners: Minnich (t-1st / 2)
Saves: Schmidt (3rd / 40)
Save Percentage: (t-2nd / .833)
Goals Against Average: (4th / 1.42)

DEUCES WILD
IUPUI has yielded two goals in each of the past five games, going 1-4 in that stretch. 

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
IUPUI is 2-4-1 on the season with wins over Northern Iowa and UIC through seven games. The Jaguars have been outscored by their opponents 11-9 in non-conference play while both Minnich and Kirkhoff have three goals each. Kirkhoff, Minnich and Haley Shelton have delivered a team-high two assists while Minnich has both of the team's game-winning goals. Kulaga, Peterman and Parks also have scores for the Jaguars.

Defensively, Catherine Schmidt has started all seven matches, registering a 1.42 goals against average and 40 stops in net. Behind her, Nicole Kulovitz has a 1.87 GAA and 10 saves in four relief appearances.

SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
Marian (5-2) is 2-1 at home this season and has outscored its opponents 20-10 this season. Former IUPUI forward Logan Bowling leads the Marian attack with six goals and three assists while Kellie Cavanaugh is second on the squad with five goals and two assists. Marian has had nine different goals scorers and 11 players with at least a point this season. 

In goal, Melissa Sturgill has played all 634 minutes, registering a 1.42 goals against average and 33 saves in seven starts. 

SCOUTING THE RACERS
Murray State (4-2) comes in having won two straight and is 2-2 on the road this season. Most recently, the Racers defeated Middle Tennessee on Sept. 13 by a 2-0 score. Harriet Withers leads the Racers with three goals while Taylor Richerson has six points on two goals and two assists. In goal, Shelby Haworth has a pair of shutouts in her six starts, while amassing a 1.27 goals against average and 19 stops in net.  

SERIES RECORDS
While IUPUI and Marian are frequent foes in the preseason and spring games, Friday's match marks the first-ever regular season meeting between the two schools. 

IUPUI is 3-4-1 all-time against Murray State and 3-1 in the previous four meetings in Indianapolis. The last meeting was on Sept. 19, 2014 when the Racers beat the Jaguars 3-1 in Kentucky. MSU got a hat trick from Julie Mooney in the win while Kirkhoff assisted Minnich on the Jaguars' only goal.   

UP NEXT
IUPUI will hit the road for one last time in the non-conference portion of the schedule when the Jaguars play at Indiana State on Sept. 25 at 7:00 p.m..