Women's Soccer Competes in Sunday Conference Action
Sunday's Scoreboard
Western Michigan 2, Eastern Michigan 1
Akron 2, Miami 1
Kent State 0, Toledo 0
Bowling Green 3, Ohio 1
Ball State 1, Buffalo 0
Northern Illinois 2, Central Michigan 1
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Western Michigan 2, Eastern Michigan 1
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan women's soccer's senior class shined on Sunday afternoon as the Broncos beat Eastern Michigan, 2-1, at the WMU Soccer Complex.
The group of Alyssa Burke, Paige Dobbs, Colleen McKay and Savannah Rembold were honored prior to the start. Dobbs and McKay each scored goals, while Burke set up McKay's game-winner. Sophomore Hannah Sargent made five saves to earn her 11th win for the Broncos (11-5-0, 5-3-0 MAC).
"You can't write it any better than that," said head coach Sarah Stanczyk on the performance of the seniors. "They've been our guiding light the entire season and it was a clear example of it today. They are a pretty resilient and relentless group and they just believe in this team."
Dobbs got Western Michigan on the scoreboard early in just the 8th minute. WMU earned a corner kick and Grace Labadie served the ball into the box. Dobbs made a late run to the back post and headed it down and into the net for her second goal of the season and put WMU up 1-0.
The Broncos held the Eagles to just five total shots in the first half, only allowing two to reach Sargent. EMU turned up the pressure in the second half and found its breakthrough goal in the 55th minute. Sabrina McNeill crossed it from the left side of the field to the right side of the box. Kristin Nason then redirected the ball to Parys Kerr in the middle of the goal for the tap-in, trying the game at 1-1.
McKay's game-winner came in the 81st minute. Burke played her into the middle of the box and McKay switched the ball to her left foot and fired it into the right corner of the net for her third goal of the season and third game-winning goal of the season.
EMU outshot WMU 12-11 overall, while the Broncos had a 6-5 edge in shots on goal.
Western Michigan heads out on the road to Kent State and Ohio next Friday and Sunday. WMU and KSU kick off at 6 p.m. before Sunday's 1 p.m. game against the Bobcats. The Broncos close out the 2018 regular season hosting Northern Illinois on Thursday, Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. Admission is free.
Akron 2, Miami 1
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – With a minute and a half left to play in the match and the score tied 1-1, sophomore Angela Boyce (Farmington Hills, Ohio) notched the game-winning goal for the Akron women's soccer team as the Zips defeated Miami, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon.
"Very pleased for the players," said head coach Noreen Herlihy. "We knew it was going to be a tough physical match and so it was good to get a result especially of the back of so many OT games lately that didn't go in our favor."
With the win, Akron picked up three more points in the Mid-American Conference standings bringing its total to seven on the year.
The goal marked the first score of Boyce's career and it could not come at a better time as Akron was headed for its fourth straight overtime contest.
In the contest, the Zips offense tallied 12 shots with four coming on frame. Individually, a pair of seniors led the charge for Akron as Shea O'Brien (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and Erica Schrader (Blacklick, Ohio) both posted three shots in the match. Sophomore Lexie Kolano (Trafford, Pa.) continued to create chances in the offensive third and recorded two shots, while four other Zips pitched in one shot. Boyce needed just one shot in the match to earn Akron the victory.
In the net for Akron was freshman Erin McKinney (Belvidere, Ill.) for her 11thstart of the season. For the Zips, McKinney made six saves in goal. The freshman keeper has made at least six saves in four straight games.
A scoreless first half between the Zips and RedHawks saw a combined 12 shots, five from Akron and seven from Miami. Despite the opportunities, both teams defense and keepers won the first half of the match keeping the game tied at zero.
Following the halftime break, Akron began the second half of play looking to score. The Zips registered three shots in the first six minutes of the second stanza and struck gold on the third attempt. Schrader possessed the ball on the right side of the field and headed towards the Akron offensive third. The senior midfielder saw an opportunity, struck a deep cross into the box and found freshman Carly Pcholinsky (South Park, Pa.) who headed the ball into the back of the net for the score and the lead. Pcholinsky notched her fourth goal of the campaign while Schrader earned her third assist.
Just six minutes later, Miami scored the equalizer at the 60:15 mark of the contest following a corner kick.
As the next 28 minutes passed by, the Zips garnered three more shots in attempts to regain the lead. Finally, with 1:35 left to play on the clock, the Zips seized their moment. Freshman Sydney Worthy(Groveport, Ohio) ripped a shot on goal that was blocked away by Miami's keeper, Lauren Parker. The ball went back into play, was rebounded by Boyce, and immediately fired a shot into the back of the net for what proved to be the game-winning goal. Worthy was awarded an assist on the goal.
Akron went into protection mode for the final 1:35 of regulation and as the clock struck 0:00, the Zips came out with the victory.
The Zips close out the home portion of its 2018 regular season schedule next weekend as Akron welcomes in Bowling Green and Toledo.
The Zips are scheduled for a 7 p.m. match-up against the Falcons on Friday, Oct. 18, before the home finale against the Rockets on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 1 p.m. The contest between Akron and Bowling Green will represent the Zips annual 'Kick For The Cure' game.
Kent State 0, Toledo 0
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – In a physical match that went to double-overtime, both Kent State (8-6-2, 4-3-1 MAC) and Toledo (8-5-2, 4-3-1 MAC) could not find the back of the net in the scoreless draw.
The Golden Flashes had a couple of chances in double-overtime to end the game but shots by Dominque DiNardo and Maddie Holmes sailed high in the 106th and 108th minutes respectively. Kent State was only able to put three shots on goal in the match to Toledo's six and were outshot overall, 14-11.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Faith O'Neill (6-5-2) was a bright spot for Kent State as she made play-after-play to keep the Golden Flashes in the game. She tied her career-high with six saves, which she set earlier this season against Pitt and Central Michigan, and picked up her fourth shutout of the year.
Toledo keeper Madison Perrin (7-5-2) made three saves.
Holmes led Kent State with four total shots and sophomore Vital Kats had two shots on goal. The Rockets were led by Hannah Scafaria's five shots. The Flashes became just the second team this year to hold the nation's second leading goal scorer scoreless.
Kent State returns home for its last two home matches of the regular season against Western Michigan on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. and Northern Illinois on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m.
Bowling Green 3, Ohio 1
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN -- Junior Maureen Kennedy had a goal and an assist as the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team remained undefeated in Mid-American Conference play with a 3-1 win over Ohio University Sunday afternoon (Oct. 14) at Cochrane Stadium.
Junior Chelsee Washington and senior Erica Hubertalso scored as the Falcons improved to 10-3-2 overall and 8-0-0 in the MAC. Alivia Milseky scored the lone goal for the visiting Bobcats (6-6-3, 4-2-2 MAC).
Ball State 1, Buffalo 0
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind – The Ball State University soccer team couldn't quite find the back of the goal on its own, but an own goal from the opposing goalkeeper helped the Cardinals secure a 1-0 victory over Buffalo on Sunday afternoon at Briner Sports Complex.
Ball State improved to 9-3-2 overall and 5-2-1 in conference play with the win. The Cardinals have now won four straight matches and goalkeeper Tristin Stuteville recorded her third consecutive clean sheet.
"It was a good win, but I still think we've got some improvements to make," said head coach Craig Roberts. "I don't feel that we're quite playing our best yet. We're improving in certain areas, but I still feel that we've got to continue to address detail. If we do that we'll be on the right track."
Both teams were firing several shots early on to try to take an early lead. Ball State put several shots on frame in the opening half but could not quite sneak one behind the keeper. In the 22nd minute, freshman Kennedy Metzger crossed a pass into the box that was initially stopped by the Buffalo goalkeeper. The keeper could not hang on though, and lost the ball in her own goal to put BSU up 1-0.
"I thought Kennedy worked hard to get down the right side and get the ball in," said Roberts. "She worked hard to get it off, so she was deserving even if it went in off a Buffalo player. I thought it was well deserved to her pushing up the line and getting that ball in."
Despite not scoring on offense, the Cardinals took 15 shots to Buffalo's 10. BSU put seven of its shots on goal and Stuteville saved all three shots that the Bulls put on frame. Ball State doubled up Buffalo in corner kicks, six to three.
Julia Elvbo led the attack for Ball State with two shots on goal while Jenna Dombrowski, Tatiana Mason, Lauren Roll and Emily Scott all had one apiece.
The Cardinals now hit the road for matches at Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan.
Northern Illinois 2, Central Michigan 1
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. – First half goals from junior Abby Gregg (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East)) and sophomore Amanda Czerniak (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) helped lead the Northern Illinois University women's soccer team to a 2-1 Senior Day victory over Central Michigan on Sunday afternoon at the NIU Soccer Complex.
"It was our last home game for the seniors, last home game of the season, and the biggest challenge was to come out and have a performance we could be proud of," said NIU head coach Julie Colhoff. "We definitely executed and could walk off the field saying we did that."
"We showed the ability to fight though some adversity. The team trusted the game plan, we told them to stay disciplined defensively, I think in the first half we dove in and bailed them out a little bit. In the second half, we did a better job executing on those details which helped us hold on to that win."
NIU (2-14, 1-7 MAC) created an early opportunity as senior Emilie Furuseth Haugan (Hlavstad, Norway/National Sports Academy) fired a shot just wide in the eighth minute. Four minutes later, Central Michigan had its first chance of the match as Lexi Pelafas forced NIU senior goalkeeper MacKenzie Lee(Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) into an outstanding save at full stretch diving to her right.
Just past the quarter-hour mark the Huskies nearly opened the scoring as freshman Trudy Quidzinski (Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) rattled a shot off the crossbar.
A minute later, the Huskies were in front as Furuseth Haugan played a ball into space behind the Central Michigan defense. Gregg won a challenge with Central Michigan goalkeeper Morgan Britain at the top of the box and then tucked the ball into the open goal to give NIU a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.
On the half-hour mark NIU doubled its lead as Czerniak unleashed a dipping shot from about 25 yards that curled past Britain to give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage.
In the final minute of the opening half the Huskies nearly added a third as Gregg's shot was fought off by Britain for a NIU corner kick. Sophomore Haley Hoppe (Austin, Texas/Rouse) rose highest to meet the corner but put her header wide.
Less than 30 seconds into the second half, Central Michigan (6-10, 4-4 MAC) nearly scored as Katie Coleman hit the post and the Huskies were able to scramble the ball away.
In the 67th minute, Lee made an outstanding kick save on a volley by Abby Willerer as the Huskie goalkeeper saw the shot late but was able to react quickly to make the stop.
Lee made seven saves in the contest for the Huskies.
With 15 minutes to play the Chippewas pulled a goal by through Pelafas. Coleman played the ball into the box to the CMU forward who turned and fired a shot inside the far post to cut the Huskie lead in half.
In the final quarter-hour, the NIU defense contained Central Michigan as it pushed for an equalizer, not allowing a shot until the final minute when Mary Carlson sent a harmless shot well high as the Huskies claimed the 2-1 Senior Day victory.
"I think this is the first time that they have played two games, consistently, in a row in terms of execution and doing what we ask of them," said Colhoff. "I told them Friday that was our challenge for today, could we build off that performance, and I thought they did that well. Now it is about can we build off of this going into a week of practice and then into next weekend."
Next week, the Huskies will travel to Ohio University on Thursday, Oct. 18, and Kent State on Sunday, Oct. 21.
