Thursday's Women's Soccer Scoreboard
Ohio 2, Eastern Kentucky 1
Bowling Green 3, Kentucky 3 (2 OT)
Eastern Michigan 2, Oakland 2 (2 OT)
Navy 1, Buffalo 0
IUPUI 1, Toledo 0 (OT)
Dayton 5, Miami 1
Iowa 2, Western Michigan 0
Central Michigan 0, Illinois-Chicago 0 (2 OT)
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Ohio 2, Eastern Kentucky 1 (OT)
Boxscore
ATHENS, Ohio– The Ohio soccer team (1-0) went to overtime and took down Eastern Kentucky (0-1), 2-1, on Thursday afternoon at Chessa Field. Sophomore forward Abby Townsend (Powell, Ohio) scored the match winner in the 95th minute.
"That was a great game for us," head coach Aaron Rodgers said. "EKU played the style of so many teams that we're going to play in our conference and that so many teams play in college soccer. They put you under a lot of pressure. They're very direct and they have a lot of energy. For us to try and match that energy, but then impose our style of play, I think we had moments of it today, but I also think we kind of got lost in the physical game. I told them, that for us to come through with a win and have a learning experience, it was a great opportunity and great resilience in the end to get the win."
The first half ended scoreless, with Ohio outshooting the Colonels 8-4 in the first frame. The Bobcats earned four corner kicks and had six shots on goal during the first 45 minutes.
EKU opened the first half with two shots, however Ohio struck first in the 55th minute when senior defender Sydney Leckie(Medina, Ohio) found the back of the net from just inside the box. Leckie earned her first goal of the season, while senior midfielder Alivia Milesky (Plain City, Ohio) assisted on the goal.
After the Ohio goal, EKU went on the attack, recording two shots that went wide of the net. After another shot and save from EKU, the Colonels finally struck when Kylie Thompson tied the game at 1-1 in the 69th minute.
Over the next 20 minutes, the Bobcats and Colonels battled, with Townsend recording a shot on goal in the 86th minute. However, neither team scored, sending the game to overtime with the game tied at 1-1.
It didn't take long for the Bobcats to strike. In the 95th minute, Townsend put in the golden goal thanks to a long pass from Milesky, sending the Bobcats home with the 2-1 victory.
Overall, Ohio outshot the Colonels 12-11 and forced the Colonels to make eight saves. Both EKU and Ohio recorded four corner kicks.
Junior goalkeeper Sydney Malham (Nashville, Tenn.) was the lone keeper for the Bobcats and made five saves while allowing one goal in 94 minutes.
Townsend led the team, firing off four shots, three that were on goal and one goal, in 89 minutes on the field. Leckie had two shots on goal- including a goal, while sophomore forward Maeve Maloney (Lebanon, Ohio) and freshman midfielder Olivia Darrow (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) each had one. Milesky finished the game with two assists.
Milesky, senior defender Victoria Breeden (Hudson, Ohio) and sophomore defender Olivia Sensky (Powell, Ohio) played all 95 minutes for Ohio.
Ohio will be back in action on Sunday, Aug. 25 when Ohio heads to Northern Kentucky. First touch will be at 7 p.m. and the match can be seen live on ESPN+.
Bowling Green 3, Kentucky 3 (2 OT)
Boxscore
The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team earned a result on the road, battling the University of Kentucky to a 3-3 draw on Thursday night (Aug. 22). The match, the regular-season opener for both teams, was held at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex.
Redshirt junior Nikki Cox got the Falcons on the scoreboard late in the first half, beating her defender on the right side of the penalty area and scoring from a difficult angle to tie the match at 1-1.
Less than six minutes later, Nikki's younger sister, Katie Cox, pounced on a deflected ball in the box and poked it past UK goalkeeper Steph Stull. The freshman's goal gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead with just 2:33 remaining in the half.
The Wildcats evened the score on a penalty kick early in the second half, but after a giveaway by the home side, Katie Cox was pushed to the ground inside the 18-yard box. Senior Maureen Kennedy stepped up and converted the ensuing PK to give the Falcons the lead with just over seven minutes to go in the second half.
But, Jordyn Rhodes headed home a corner kick just 33 seconds later, knotting the score and sending the match to overtime. Neither team could break the deadlock in the two 10-minute extra sessions.
Eastern Michigan 2, Oakland 2 (2 OT)
Boxscore
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Eastern Michigan University soccer team kicked off the 2019 campaign with a 2-2 draw against Oakland University Thursday, Aug. 22, at Scicluna Field.
Redshirt senior Kristin Hullibarger (Brooklin, Ontario-Donald A. Wilson) converted a penalty kick in the 24th minute to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead, before freshman Amanda Cripps (Bradford, Ontario-Trinity Catholic) scored in her collegiate debut to restore EMU's one-goal advantage 1:35 into the second half. The Eagles outshot the Golden Grizzlies by a 7-6 margin, as redshirt junior Mabel Dunn (Oakville, Ontario-White Oaks Secondary) made all of her career-high four saves during the second stanza.
Eastern Michigan generated several chances during the opening stages, and finally broke the deadlock 23:45 into the first half. After getting tripped by sophomore Ashley Postma at the left edge of the box, Hullibarger buried the ensuing spot kick into the lower left corner past junior Jaimie Leas. However, Oakland leveled the score barely four minutes later when freshman Alexa Sabbagh entered the right edge of the box and tucked a shot inside the right post.
The Eagles jumped back in front early in the second period courtesy of Cripps' first collegiate goal. Junior Kennady Kuhlman (Howell, Mich.-Hartland) threaded a pass into the box toward Cripps, who smashed the ball inside the left post at the 1:35 mark. Oakland forced overtime on a long-range effort with 31:14 remaining in regulation, but EMU managed the only shot of the extra session as the match ended in a 2-2 draw.
Eastern Michigan begins a season-long, six-game road trip Sunday, Aug. 25 with a contest against intrastate rival University of Detroit Mercy. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Navy 1, Buffalo 0
Boxscore
ANNAPOLIS, MD – The University at Buffalo soccer team (0-1-0, 0-0-0 MAC) fell to Navy 1-0 in the 2019 season opener on Thursday night.
The lone goal of the game came in the 15th minute as the Mids were awarded a penalty kick in the 15th minute after Gurjeena Jandu was called for a handball. Caddie Higginson stepped up and knocked the penalty attempt past a diving Emily Kelly to put Navy up 1-0.
Navy continued to apply the pressure in the second half as the Mids registered five corners and four shots but the Bulls defense held strong and did not allow a second goal.
The Bulls had a good look in the 60th minute as Adrianna VanCuyck fired a shot on net from close range but Sydney Forston made the save.
The game was halted with 6:12 remaining due to lightning strikes in the area and after a delay the game was called.
In net, Kelly finished the night with two saves, while Forston had one stop.
"We ran into a very fit, fast and pressuring Navy squad tonight and could never settle into the game," said head coach Shawn Burke. "We dealt with a lot of pressure all night but held our ground and limited the number of chances on net for them. It was a good learning experience that exposed our weaknesses."
Buffalo will next be in action on Friday, August 30, when they travel to Big 4 rival St. Bonaventure for a 7 pm match with the Bonnies. The match will air on ESPN+.
IUPUI 1, Toledo 0 (OT)
Boxscore
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Toledo women's soccer team (0-1-0) had its chances to secure the road win at IUPUI (1-0-0), but one shot in overtime proved to be the difference as the Jags pulled off the 1-0 win Thursday night at Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium.
Facing a building attack early in the extra time, the Rockets lost sight of IUPUI's Maya Lacognato, allowing the Jag forward a free look at the goal. Lacognato converted to end the game. Prior to the Jags' strike, the Rockets battled evenly with IUPUI for the entire game, with Stephanie Currieand Ariana Garcia each recording three shots.
"It was a challenging opening game," said head coach TJ Buchholz. "To go to overtime and battle with IUPUI was a positive, I am just disappointed that we couldn't do better in the overtime. Overall, they are a very strong team in the Horizon League and I thought both teams played really well. When you go into overtime, somebody has to find a way to win. Our defense did really well tonight. They had to withstand a really good attack from IUPUI, and the backline really did well with the pressure. Adrianna made her first start and was able to withstand a lot with the backline."
The Rockets' defense held the Jags to five shots during the first half, none on goal, keeping redshirt-freshman Adrianna Brewer from having to make a single save in the first 45 minutes.
The Rockets head to West Lafayette, Ind. for their second match of the season against Purdue on Sunday, Aug. 25. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m.
Dayton 5, Miami 1
Boxscore
DAYTON, Ohio – Dayton broke a one-goal game open in the second half and handed the Miami soccer team a 5-1 season-opening loss on Thursday night.
The Flyers drew first blood in the sixth minute by corralling a loose ball near midfield and countering the other way. Alexis Goins took a through ball feed down the right side of the box and fired a shot inside the far post to put UD on top in the early going.
Dayton jumped out to a 7-1 shot advantage while also picking up six corner kicks and not allowing Miami a set piece try over the first 30 minutes of play. MU did begin turning the tide after some lineup adjustments as the final shot tally in the half was 8-5 in favor of UD. Olivia Winnett nearly evened the score in the 43rd minute as Keara Kerr fed her right atop the keeper box, but Carly Becker made a pair of point-blank stops to keep the Flyers on top by a goal at the half.
UD added two more tallies early in the second half. Caroline Mink fired a shot up high that caught the upper 90 in the 55th minute and it benefitted from an own goal in the 59th minute to build a 3-0 lead. Goins then added her second tally of the evening to make it 4-0 in the 77th minute.
The Red & White broke the Flyers' shutout bid in the 78th minute when Keara Kerr got a loose ball off a blocked shot from a corner kick to tally her first collegiate goal. Riley Balconi and Jordan King both picked up assists on the tally. Dayton closed the scoring with a Jordan Pauley goal off a penalty kick in the 80th minute.
Dayton outshot Miami by a 26-8 margin and held a 10-1 edge in corner kicks for the night.
Miami returns to the pitch on Sunday when it heads back to Dayton for a clash against Wright State. Opening kick is at 2 p.m.
Iowa 2, Western Michigan 0
Boxscore
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Western Michigan women's soccer team opened up the 2019 regular season falling at the University of Iowa, 2-0, on Thursday night.
The Hawkeyes scored a goal in each half, with the opening tally coming in the 11th minute by Kaleigh Haus. Haus netted her first goal of the season on an assist from Hannah Dkrulec to give Iowa the early 1-0 lead.
UI struck again in the 82nd minute on a penalty kick goal by Natalie Winters to seal the game.
"Iowa was a very good team," said head coach Sammy Boateng. "We played our style of play from the beginning of the game until the end. We made a few mistakes but they were all fixable things. We learned a lot about the group and our resiliency."
WMU was outshot 16-2 overall on the night and 7-1 on goal. Sophomore goalie Hannah Sargent made five saves on the night. Sophomore forward Morgan Otteson had the team's lone attempt on goal coming in the 54th minute.
"We will continue to learn and get better as we prepare for our next game against Notre Dame," added Boateng.
The Broncos welcome the Fighting Irish to the WMU Soccer Complex for their regular season home opener on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 5 p.m. Admission is free.
Central Michigan 0, Illinois-Chicago 0 (2 OT)
Boxscore
CHICAGO -- The first game in the Jeremy Groves era of Central Michigan women's soccer ended in a 0-0 tie with Illinois-Chicago on Thursday at Flames Field.
"We started off very slow, the first half was very disappointing with how we came out and how we performed," said Groves, who was named the Chippewas' coach in December. "The second half was much better. We came out and we were winning first balls and making opportunities for ourselves. I think both teams had chances to win the game, which from our prospective is a little disappointing. In the end, a tie is a fair result."
In the final 10 minutes of regulation, CMU had shots from Katie Coleman and Marle Bringard. CMU would have one shot from Maddie West in extra time.
CMU finished the game with 12 shots, four of them were on goal, and had three corner kicks. UIC had 16 shots, 10 of them were on goal, and six corners.
Coleman led CMU with five shots, three of them were on goal, along with West who had three shots.
"We were wide open in front of the goal a couple of times and we just didn't hit the target," Groves said. "We would put it wide or over the bar. Just because it says we didn't register a shot on goal, doesn't mean to say we didn't create a really good opportunity, and that's what we did three times in the second half.
"We were very much on top in the first overtime. We created more opportunities, but we couldn't hit the target, and we didn't put that goalkeeper under enough pressure and missed some easy targets."
Zoie Reed played the entire game in goal for CMU, recording 10 saves. UIC's Lena Kurz had three saves. It was the 11th career shutout for Reed, a senior.
"Reed was good," Grove said. "Everything she did, she made it look really easy. She commanded her box well, her kicking was very good. She had a good game for us and that's what we expect from her every time."
The Chippewas won both of their exhibitions last week by a combined 3-0.
"We're only two and a half to three weeks in from the preseason," Groves Said. "There's still stuff to be worked on, but there's positive going forward. That's three games now that we didn't give up a goal, which is huge.
"The best thing is we don't turn around and play on Sunday, we have a little bit of time to get back on the bus, recover and look forward to playing against a good team in Northwestern next week."
CMU will return to the Chicago area on Thursday, Aug. 29, when they play Northwestern in Evanston. The Wildcats dropped their season opener to SMU, 1-0, and are scheduled to play at Notre Dame on Sunday Aug. 25.
CMU's home opener is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 6, against Indiana State. The Chippewas then entertain IUPUI on Sunday, Sept. 8.
