2019 Tournament Bracket
Championship Central
Saturday's Scoreboard
Longwood 2, Kent State 1
Miami 5, Central Michigan 0
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Longwood 2, Kent State 1
Box Score
KENT, Ohio – After a tough overtime loss on senior night last Friday, Luna Lopez, Katie Wyman, and the Lancers bounced back in a huge way.
The Longwood field hockey team made history, defeating Kent State for the first time since joining the MAC in a 2-1 double-overtime victory on Saturday afternoon. Lopez scored twice, including the golden-goal in overtime, while Wyman stood tall in net to hand Kent State (10-8, 5-1 MAC) their first MAC defeat of the season. Already having clinched at least a share of the MAC conference title, Longwood spoiled what could have been an outright title for the Golden Flashes with the win.
"I am very happy and proud of the team for the hard work that they put in," said head coach Iain Byers, who now has his team at 3-3 in conference play. "It was definitely a performance that we can all be very proud of. I think the fight and commitment, as well as the execution, were better today. So, I am really proud and it is a beautiful way to set up going into the MAC.
After a string of narrow defeats including four by one goal since joining the MAC in 2014, the Lancers were finally able to power past Kent State. Luna Lopez, asked to switch to a defensive role after starting the season with two goals and two assists as a midfielder, made two huge contributions on offense today. The reigning MAC Freshman of the Year tallied the two Longwood goals, both at clutch moments coming on penalty corner set pieces including the golden goal in overtime.
"In the first half we played really individually, but in the second half we played with a lot of passes," said Luna Lopez, who now has four goals on the season. "We took our chances on corners and both goals came on the corners, which was a key thing for us."
The sophomore knotted the game at 1-1 at the end of the third quarter when she took an insertion from teammate Jamie Wright and rocketed a shot by Kent State goalkeeper Azure Fernsler for the equalizer. Later, in the second overtime period, Lopez received a pass from Caroline Verhappen and launched a perfect shot into the top corner of the goal before she was mobbed by her teammates in celebration. The assist was the freshman Verhappen's first of her collegiate career.
Two-time All-MAC performer Katie Wyman was excellent in net for the Lancers, who needed her strong play to get into overtime. After conceding a first half goal on a penalty corner, Wyman shutdown the Golden Flashes the rest of the way. Following Luna's equalizer, Wyman made two monster saves in the fourth quarter, including a sprawling save on a penalty corner, to get the game to overtime. In total, she made four saves as she closed her regular season as the MAC leader in goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts.
Defensively, the backline of Lopez, Rio Weber, and Clara Meschini was excellent for Longwood as they held Kent State to just 11 shots. The Lancers totaled 12 shots, with Olivia Wawrzyniak and Jamie Wright each leading the way with three apiece.
The field is now set for the MAC Conference Tournament in Oxford, Ohio. Longwood will enter as the fifth seed, set to square off against Ball State on Thursday, Nov. 7 with a rematch against Kent State on the line. Play will begin at 10:30 a.m.
Miami 5, Central Michigan 0
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University field hockey team (11-7, 5-1 MAC) shut out Central Michigan by a 5-0 margin on Saturday on senior/alumnae day in the final game of the regular season. The win paired with a Kent State loss earned the RedHawks a share of the regular season MAC Championship.
In the first quarter, Miami earned all four penalty corners and took all four shots on the field but two saves by Central Michigan goalkeeper Abigail Ebersole kept the game scoreless after 15 minutes.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, Leonor Berlie put Miami on the board first with her 12th goal of the season. She took the ball into the circle on her own and put the ball into the left side of the cage while running right.
In the 19th minute of play, Allie Grace Joyner capitalized on the RedHawks lone penalty corner of the second quarter to give Miami a 2-0 lead. Joyner's eighth goal of the season came on an indirect pass on the corner from Kirsten McNeil.
Central Michigan registered its lone shot of the first half on target but McNeil came up with a defensive save to keep the Chippewas off the board.
Lexi Silver had back-to-back shots on goal midway through the second quarter but Ebersole made two saves to keep it a two-goal game going into halftime.
Central Michigan had the first penalty corner and shot of the second half but Miami countered with three shots in the following four minutes. Ebersole registered two more saves. McNeil then had two shots saved on a penalty corner during the 38th minute of play.
Neely Lochmoeller increased Miami's lead to 3-0 during the 42nd minute with her second goal of the season. The initial shot on the penalty corner was deflected by a defensive player and Lochmoeller batted the ball out of the air and into the cage for the goal.
The RedHawks earned a penalty corner less than a minute into the fourth quarter but Ebersole recorded another save.
In the 50th minute of play, Berlie gave Miami a 4-0 lead with her second goal of the game and 13th of the season off a cross pass from Morgan Sturm.
Taylor Curran became the fourth RedHawk to score just four minutes later. Curran's third goal of the season was deflected into the cage after Berlie directed the ball in front.
The Chippewas earned two penalty corners with less than a minute to play but two saves from Rosie Kalis and a block from the Miami defensive front preserved the shutout.
Berlie led the offense with two goals and five total points on the day while Kalis registered two saves to earn the combined shutout with Maddie Passarella. Miami outshot Central Michigan 22-5 and earned eight penalty corners to the Chippewas' three.
Miami hosts the 2019 MAC Tournament from Wednesday through Saturday. A full bracket and schedule of games will be available before the start of the tournament.
