At 5-1 in the Mid-American Conference, the University of Toledo soccer team is second in the conference behind Ball State University.
The teams will play Sunday in Muncie but before the Cardinals (8-4-1, 5-0-1 MAC) turn their attention to the Rockets (10-3-1, 5-1 MAC), they have to focus on Friday's opponent, Bowling Green State University (5-8-1, 2-4 MAC).
"The standings by no means represents how good [Bowling Green is]," coach Michelle Salmon said.
Bowling Green enters the weekend third-worst in the conference standings. Ball State took sole possession of first place in the conference with Toledo's 1-0 loss to Kent State University Sunday.
Ball State won the regular season MAC championship last year while the Rockets took the conference tournament.
"Toledo has a great team this year," junior Emily Rein said. "We're looking forward to seeing them playing at their best.
Ball State has not allowed a goal in conference play this season. The Cardinals seven-game shutout streak and six-game shutout streak in conference play are both second in MAC history.
Ball State enters the weekend with the MAC's best defense, allowing 0.62 goals per game.
Toledo leads the MAC in scoring at 2.14 goals per game.
"They've done a great job of scoring goals," Salmon said. "You've got to respect what they've accomplished."
Ball State is fifth in the MAC in scoring at 1.31 goals per game while Bowling Green is sixth with 1.21 goals per game.
The Falcons have the second-worst defense in the league with 1.73 goals allowed per game while the Rockets are second at 0.76 goals per game.
Rein said two wins this weekend would go a long way to securing the regular season MAC championship. However, she said the team is more focused on winning so it can have home-field advantage in the MAC tournament.
"As a team we haven't been focused on the regular season championship," Rein said, "because as we found out last year, you can win the regular season championship and have nothing to show for it."
However, Salmon said every weekend in the MAC is huge.
"This weekend is no different than any other weekend," she said.
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