Western Michigan Halts Buffalo Win Streak
Sunday’s Scoreboard
Western Michigan 4, Buffalo 2
Ohio 2, Eastern Michigan 1
Central Michigan 2, Kent State 1
Bowling Green 3, Ball State 0
Toledo 2, Miami 1
Akron 3, Northern Illinois 2
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Western Michigan 4, Buffalo 2
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's soccer team scored its most goals since the 2016 season during a 4-2 victory over the University at Buffalo on Sunday, Sept. 23 at WMU Soccer Complex.
The Broncos remained undefeated at their home field (6-0) with its second Mid-American Conference win of the season, jumping out to a four-goal lead for a season-high four goals scored.
WMU scored twice in each half, including two penalty shot goals from Grace Labadie.
The Brown & Gold struck early in the sixth minute, as Alyssa Burke got the home team on the board with her fourth of the season, finishing on a Grace Labadie corner kick.
Ten minutes later, Colleen McKay sent a great centering pass into the box for Morgan Otteson to score her third of the season.
After a hot start, the Broncos saw some pushback from the visiting Bulls, who ended up with a 7-6 shot advantage heading into the break, but the score still read 2-0 in favor of WMU.
"Our group has really latched on to the concept of liability," said head coach Sarah Stanczyk. "We knew coming in that Buffalo was going to be a big challenge for us and that we were going to have to be on the front foot to match their potent attack."
Grace Labadie, the Broncos leading scorer from last season, got off the schneid in the second half. An aggressive attack from WMU allowed for two penalty kicks, in which Labadie capitalized on both for her first and second tallies of the season, giving Western Michigan a 4-0 lead with 20 minutes to play.
"We definitely wanted to try to put more pressure on them because we knew their attacking group was capable of putting a ton of pressure on us," said Stanczyk.
The Broncos were unable to preserve the shutout late in the match, as Buffalo broke through at the 80th minute. The Bulls scored soon after on a free kick and applied more pressure, but WMU held on for the 4-2 win.
"I think we were lucky to put four away to give us that cushion," Stanczyk commented. "We spoke at the end of the game that we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard of accountability in these matches because we may not be so lucky to score four. For teams to win championship teams, we can't let good teams like that back into the game."
Hannah Sargent made a career-high eight saves en route to earning the win in net for WMU, improving her record to 8-2.
The Broncos (8-2-0, 2-0-0 MAC) return to action next Friday, Sept. 28, as they head to Toledo, Ohio for their first road conference match of the season against the Rockets. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Ohio 2, Eastern Michigan 1
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Ohio soccer team (3-5-1, 1-1 MAC) continued Mid-American Conference play on Sunday (Sept. 23), defeating Eastern Michigan (6-5, 1-1 MAC), 2-1, to pick up their first conference win of the season.
"Our team showed such great resilience today after the disappointment of Friday night," head coach Aaron Rodgers said. "EMU has two of the best forwards in the league and our team defended them very well. Mandy Arnzen and Sydney Malham had great games in the back and we scored two clinical goals. This was a great effort from our entire team and is the type of effort we need every week to accomplish our team goals."
The Bobcats would get off to a quick start, with Ohio registering the first shot of the game in the third minutes, on a ball by Maria Collica (Solon, Ohio) that was blocked by the EMU defense. The Bobcats would continue to push on the offensive side, with Madelyn Kah (Hamilton, Ohio) recording two shots back-to-back in the fifth minute that forced the EMU keeper to make two saves. Then after a corner kick, Collica would record her second shot of the game, a header that would go just wide of the net.
The Bobcats would continue to put pressure on the EMU defense, with Abby Townsend(Powell, Ohio) registering back-to-back shots, followed by another attempt from Kah. Unfortunately, the Eagles would strike first, when Kristin Nason scored on a ball that was played into the box, putting EMU up 1-0 in the 19th minute.
After the EMU goal, the Eagles would make another push on defense, recording four-straight shots, with the last one coming in the 28th minute that forces starting keeper, Sydney Malham (Nashville, Tenn.) to make a save.
The Bobcats would then strike moments later, with Townsend scoring in the 33rd minute, tying the game at 1-1 late in the first half.
After the goal by Townsend, the Bobcats and Eagles would trade shots, with Alivia Milesky (Plain City, Ohio) and Bryce Hueber (Cincinnati, Ohio) both recording one in the 38th and 39th minutes. Macey Juguilon (Brunswick, Ohio) would also record a shot on goal in the 42nd minute, on an attempt that would force the EMU keeper to make a save, keeping the game tied at 1-1 as the game entered halftime.
At the half, the Bobcats outshot Eastern Michigan 12-8, with the Bobcats recording seven shots on goal to EMU's four.
The Bobcats wouldn't waste any time in the second period, when in the 49th minute, Milesky would head a ball from Victoria Breeden past the keeper, putting Ohio up 2-1 early in the second half.
Moments later, Kah would record her fifth shot of the game, however it would go just wide of the net. Olivia Sensky (Powell, Ohio) would also register a shot for the Bobcats, a ball that would go wide of the net in the 56th minute.
The Eagles would then start to pressure offensively, registering two-straight shots in the 57th minute. Sydney Leckie (Media, Ohio) would then get an attempt of her own in the 69th minute, but the ball would be blocked by the EMU defense.
The final 20 minutes of play would see the Eagle get the last four attempts of the game, including a shot in the 83rd minute that would force Malham to make a save, to old the Bobcats lead and help Ohio seal the 2-1 victory.
Overall, the Bobcats out shot EMU, 16-15, with eight shots on goal, compared to EMU's seven.
Overall, Kah registered five shots, with four on goal and an assist. Townsend registered three shots and a goal, while Milesky recorded a goal on two shots.
In net, Malham allowed one goal on 15 shots faced, while making six saves in 90 minutes of action.
Up next, the Bobcats return to Athens next weekend to continue MAC play. The Bobcats are set to take on Miami on Friday, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. at Chessa Field.
The Bobcats will wrap up the weekend on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. against Ball State. Sunday will also serve as Ohio's Senior Day.
Central Michigan 2, Kent State 1
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Natalie Belsito's first collegiate goal could not have come at a better time.
Belsito scored in the 69th minute off a Madison Costner assist on Sunday, lifting the Central Michigan soccer team to a 2-1 Mid-American Conference victory over Kent State at the CMU Soccer Stadium.
The win came two days after CMU's dramatic 1-0 double-overtime win over Ohio in the MAC opener. CMU has won three of its last four starts and is 4-6, 2-0 MAC.
The Chippewas are off to their first 2-0 start in MAC play since 2013.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Chippewas controlled play in the first half and seized a 1-0 lead on a Shannon Magnan goal in the 20th minute. Lexi Pelafas and Maria Kaschalk assisted.
Kent State tied it with a goal on a penalty kick by Vital Kats in the 54th minute. Fifteen minutes later, Belsito put the Chippewas back on top.
"I'm really proud of (the team) and I thought they showed good resiliency, good grit and a good intense MAC performance today," CMU coach Peter McGaheysaid. "I think what we found this weekend is a really good determination and a persistence to grind until we find that scoring moment."
Bowling Green 3, Ball State 0
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind -- For the second time in as many Mid-American Conference matches, junior Chelsee Washingtongot her team on the board early, and they never looked back. Washington scored a pair of goals on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 23), leading the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team to a 3-0 victory against Ball State University at the Briner Sports Complex.
With the win, the Falcons are now 4-3-2 overall and 2-0-0 in MAC play. BGSU has won three-straight matches, and the Falcons are unbeaten (3-0-1) in the last four contests.
Ball State drops to 5-2-1 overall and 1-1-0 in the MAC.
After scoring less than two minutes into Friday's 2-0 win at Miami, Washington found the back of the net at the 3:09 mark on Sunday. She added a second goal with just over 10 minutes to go in the opening half, and senior Erica Hubert put an exclamation point on the win with a goal in the last five minutes of the match.
In addition to the three goals, the Falcons hit the woodwork with two other shots.
Junior Kathleen Duwve made four saves in net, as the Falcon defense picked up a third consecutive shutout.
BGSU is now a perfect 17-0-0 when scoring two or more goals since Matt Fannon became the Falcons' head coach prior to the 2017 season.
Toledo 2, Miami 1
Box Score
Oxford, Ohio - The Toledo women's soccer team (5-4-1, 1-1 MAC) won 2-1 over Miami (2-5-1, 0-2 MAC) today to close out the first weekend of Mid-American Conference play. Toledo scored off goals from freshman Elbony Rodriguez and senior captain Hannah Scafaria.
Rodriguez' goal was her first of the season, while Scafaria's was her eighth. With today's goal Scafaria has tied her career-high of eight goals in a season which was set during the 2017 campaign. Today's win comes two days after UT fell 2-0 to Ball State in the first MAC contest of the year.
"I'm proud of our team today," head coach TJ Buchholz said. "It's never easy to beat a team in-conference on the road. Miami was a tough opponent and battled us hard all game. We weathered their pressure well and closed out the game with a win."
Toledo started the day strong, earning a corner in the third minute and putting a shot up two minutes later. After some time, the 18th minute saw Miami put up two chances followed by the Rockets putting up two more of their own.
UT's first goal came in the 34th minute. A cross was sent into the 18-yard box and bounced in front of the net. Rodriguez was quick on her toes and managed to finish the chance to put UT up 1-0.
Miami attempted to respond a minute later with a shot from Olivia Winnett, but sophomore goalkeeper Madison Perrin made the save. The RedHawks would record one more chance before the halftime whistle blew.
The Rockets started the second half on the attack, quickly scoring in the 51st minute. Scafaria chased down a rebound that was sent in from freshman Ashton Cassel to earn the brace.
Chances were slim for the next 13 minutes until Miami's Emily Roberts put up two chances that were dealt with by Perrin.
The RedHawks' goal came in the 73rd minute when Lyda Bogdanovitch received a cross from Kristina DeMarco and slotted it into the left side of the net to make the score 2-1.
A flurry of shots were put up from both sides following the goal by neither defense allowed either side to capitalize before the final whistle blew.
Akron 3, Northern Illinois 2
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill.– An 89th-minute goal by freshman Carly Pcholinsky (South Park, Pa.) and three second-half goals propelled the Akron women's soccer team to a 3-2 victory over Northern Illinois and picked up three points in the standings on Sunday afternoon.
"That was a big win for the program today. We came from behind which shows the growth of the team starting to show. We lost our two starting center backs due to injury in the first half and so we had to do a major reshuffle but credit to the players they got on with it," said head coach Noreen Herlihy. "After giving away a penalty in the 87th min to make it 2-2 again we pushed forward and to score the winner with seconds left on the clock was very deserving."
After heading down 1-0 in the 13' of the first half, Akron (4-5-1, 1-1-0 MAC) dominated the second period of play on both sides of the field scoring two straight goals and the game-winning tally in the final minute of the match.
The Akron offense went on to post a game-high 17 shots, 13 of which came in the second half of the contest and nine went on goal. Individually, junior Ashley Amato (Pittsburgh, Pa.) garnered a game-high four shots for the Zips after entering the contest off the bench. A pair of freshmen in Pcholinsky and Sydney Worthy (Groveport, Ohio) each chipped in three shots, while senior's Shea O'Brien (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) and Erica Schrader (Blacklick, Ohio) notched two shots each.
Freshman goalkeeper Erin McKinney (Belvidere, Ill.) made her fifth straight start for Akron in the net. The local native to the DeKalb, Ill. area made five saves in the contest.
Despite falling behind early and heading into the locker room trailing, 1-0, the Zips were in the contest as Akron and NIU each posted four shots in the initial half.
As the second stanza began, the Zips made a few adjustments at halftime that paid off in the end.
After the Huskies were called for a box inside the Akron box, O'Brien stepped to the PK line for her second penalty kick of the season. The senior captain stared down the keeper, struck the ball, and found the back of the net to square the game up at 1-1. O'Brien is now 2-for-2 on the season in PK's and Akron is a perfect 4-for-4.
Worthy put Akron ahead 2-1 at the 63:25 mark to give the Zips their first lead of the afternoon. The forward had a shot saved by the NIU keeper but corralled the rebound. After collecting herself, Worthy ripped another shot, this time resulting in the score. The freshman notched her fourth goal of the year.
A foul in the box called on Akron gave the Huskies a PK attempt in the 87' and NIU cashed in to tie the game back up to play with three minutes remaining.
With the game winding down, the Zips ramped up the pressure in their offensive third. In the final minutes of the game, Akron garnered two corner kicks with the final attack resulting in the eventual game-winning goal.
Schrader took a shot at the net that ricocheted off the post and back into the box. After a scramble inside the six, Pcholinsky struck a ball that hit off the post and into the net for the goal. The score was the midfielder's third of the season.
Akron returns from a two-and-a-half-week road trip and is slated for its 2018 MAC play home opener as the Zips square off against Eastern Michigan on Friday, Sept. 28, and Central Michigan on Sunday, Sept. 30.
