Mid-American Conference

KENT, Ohio – Kent State (1-3-1) utilized an early goal by redshirt sophomore Karly Hellstrom and strong team defense to shutout Syracuse (2-3-0), 1-0, to earn its first win of the 2019 campaign at Dix Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Golden Flashes swept the Orange in the home-and-home series and have beaten an ACC school in each of the last four years.

"It was a physical game, and I thought we managed ourselves extremely well," said Kent State head coach Rob Marinaro. "I'm really proud of the effort, and it's always nice to pick up the win especially since we've been playing close games and to see the hard work pay off."

KSU scored on a set piece in the 21st minute. Junior Cameron Shedenhelm took the throw in and junior Maddie Holmes headed it to Hellstrom to complete the goal from the right side of the net. It was Hellstrom's second goal of the campaign, and the first goal scored by the team on Dix Stadium's turf.

The defense registered its second shutout of the season as redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Faith O'Neill (1-3-1) made four saves and had two crucial plays in the second period to fend off the Orange.

The Golden Flashes also recognized their six-member senior class of Yasmine Hall, Lizz Hathaway, Sierra Henderson-Muschett, Maddie LaVigna, Katie Kovacs and Amanda Reed prior to the match.

Kent State led SU in shots (16-10), shots on goal (6-4) and corner kicks (5-4).

The Flashes play one non-conference match next week on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 1 p.m. on the road at Butler.

Be sure to follow Kent State Soccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for news and in-match updates about the squad. 
 

ATHENS, Ohio– The Ohio soccer team (5-0-0) continued their unbeaten streak on Sunday (Sept. 8), defeating Southern Illinois (3-3-1), 7-0, in an offensive explosion inside Chessa Field. Ohio's seven goals are the second-most in program history and the most scored in Athens since Oct. 12, 2000 when Ohio scored seven against Northern Illinois.
 
Ohio also saw goals from five newcomers.
 
The undefeated Bobcats took the field firing against the Salukis of Southern Illinois. Sophomore forward Abby Townsend (Powell, Ohio) grabbed the spotlight as the star of the show in the opening 15 minutes of the game. Taking the right wing by storm with her electric speed, Townsend fired the Bobcats forward with a powerful shot on goal in the fourth minute of play.
 
Another quick shot was registered on goal by senior attacking midfielder Courtney Daugerdas (Libertyville, Ill.) in the fifth minute which was matched by an equally as quick stop by Freshman SIU keeper Dariana Mihalache.
 
Two more shots were registered on goal in the 15thminute by juniors Jenni Santacaterina (Geneva, Ill.) and Sarina Dirrig (Powell, Ohio). However, once again SIU keeper Mihalache covered her post well, batting away both attempts.
 
The first attempt from the Saluiks on the attack resulted in a shot from SIU defender Maya Warrior in the 17thminute, which was easily saved by junior goalkeeper Sydney Malham (Nashville, Tenn.).
 
After another shot by Townsend on goal, SIU's saving grace of the first half Mihalache came up with another save in the 22ndminute. The Cats continued to pepper the SIU goal with another duo of shots registered by senior midfielder Alivia Milesky (Plain City, Ohio) in the 29thminute and freshman forward Maddie Young (Cincinnati, Ohio) in the 31stminute. Young had yet another clear sight on goal just four minutes later which was once again saved by Mihalache.
 
After a duo of substitutions, bringing on freshman Tristan Whalen (LaGrange, K.y.) for Townsend and senior defender Alli Miller (Dayton, Ohio) on for junior Forward Paige Knorr (Cincinnati, Ohio) the Bobcats saw their breakthrough in the 38thminute from substitute Whalen, putting the Cat's on the board with the first of many goals to come.
 
Another shot on goal was blasted toward Miahalache by sophomore defender Olivia Sensky (Powell, Ohio), but saved right before the call for halftime.
 
The second half resumed with the momentum in Ohio's favor and it showed. The Bobcats registered a trio of shots from energetic freshman Heather McGuire (45thminute), Olivia Page (49thminute) and Young (50thminute) within the opening five minutes of the half.
 
With the pressure starting to mount on the SIU goalie, the Bobcats got their second breakthrough with forward Page delivering a beautiful ball through to McGuire for the finish, putting the Bobcats up 2-0 in the 51stminute.
 
A quick yellow card was show to former SIU shot taker, Maya Warrior in the 54thminute set Ohio up for their third goal of the contest and second on the day for McGuire in the 55thminute.
 
In a swapping of roles, former freshman assister Page turned goal scorer in the 59thminute, being assisted by than none other former goal scorers Whalen and McGuire putting the Bobcats up 4-0.
 
Ohio then brought in a duo of subs, Junior Paige Pappanastos (Orland Park, Ill.) for McGuire and junior Konstantina Giannou (Riza, Greece) who brought even more life to the already attacking Bobcat 11. Shortly after coming onto the field, Giannou fed through a quick ball to Young who put the chance away, putting Ohio up 5-0 in the 63rdminute.
 
After an uneventful 15 minutes of play the goals resumed in the 79thminute with Giannou also turning goal scorer putting the Cats up 6-0. As the game wound down, Pappanastos also contributed putting the final goal for the Cats in the back of the net racking up the score to 7-0.
 
Overall the Bobcats registered a total of 25 shots on goal, with two goal contributions from McGuire, and individual goals from Young, Page, Whalen, Giannou, and Pappanastos, while SIU only managed three shots on goal.
 
The Bobcats return to Chessa field on September 13thwhen the face Robert Morris at 4p.m. 

TOLEDO, Ohio – With strong offensive possessions and an attack-heavy mindset, the Toledo women's soccer team (2-3-0) handed Wright State (4-1-1) its first loss of the season, 4-1, on a cloudy Sunday afternoon at Paul Hotmer Field. Picking up where they left off in Thursday's 4-3 win over Oakland, four Rockets scored goals, giving them eight goals in their last two matches.

Senior Sheridan Bufe opened the floodgates for the Rockets, getting on the board in the 12th minute of the game. A corner kick from Sophia Lewis soared to the back-post and Bufe tapped it in with her left foot for her second career goal. Just seven minutes later, Wright State tied the match when a cross from Alysha Harmer was sent to the back of the Rockets' net by Brittney Petrosky.

The game remained tied for the next 23 minutes, until freshman Stephanie Currie sent a shot from the left side that was saved by Wright State's Maddie Jewell. However, the save ricocheted off Jewell's hands hands and dropped down to Currie's left foot. Currie then tapped it around to the front of the goal, where she buried it into the back of the net to put the Rockets up by one at the 42nd minute mark.

Freshman Madison Medalle joined the scoring onslaught early in the second half as she took a cross from Anita Mancini that was right across the top of the six and pushed it past the keeper in the 52nd minute. The assist was Mancini's second of her career, after making the pass on the game-winning goal against Oakland on Thursday.

The Rockets' fourth goal of th day came from junior Alex Troy, who carried the ball into the attacking third and sent a low cross at the top of the 18 to senior Abby Demboski. With no hesitation, Demboski buried the ball into the back of the net in the 58th minute to seal the deal for the Rockets.

Senior goalkeeper Madison Perrin fought off a potential Wright State comeback with two clutch saves, and senior Rachelle Topolewski blocked a dangerous Raider shot from just inside the 18-yard-box late in the second half.

Northern Illinois 1, Western Illinois 0
Boxscore
MACOMB, Ill. – Freshman Julia Neary (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) scored her first career goal and sophomore Julia Lentz (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) made seven saves as the Northern Illinois University women's soccer team defeated Western Illinois, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon at MacKenzie Alumni Field.

"I'm very pleased with how our team bounced back after Friday's match," said NIU head coach Julie Colhoff. "I think that they took to heart that they could be a better version of themselves and in today's match they came out with a lot more heart and willingness right from the beginning and were committed to working for the win all the way to the final whistle."

The first chance of the match fell to Western Illinois is in the sixth minute as a cross from the right found Zoe Clarke who forced a save from Lentz down to her right

NIU's first attempt at goal came in the 11th minute as freshman Isabella Sabo (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) latched on to a Western Illinois turnover and fired high over the top of the Leathernecks goal.

Amy Andrews slipped past a pair of NIU defenders in the 18th minute and found space to have a shot, but Lentz was up to the task and thwarted the Western Illinois opportunity.

In the 26th minute, junior Haley Hoppe (Austin, Texas/Rouse) sent a shot off the crossbar as she got on the end of a cross from the left-side by sophomore Sarah Avery (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) and beat Western Illinois goalkeeper Ines Palmiero Herrera but was unable to find the back of the net.

NIU (1-2-1) continued to push for the opening goal late in the first half as junior Amanda Czerniak (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) sent a shot high off a Leatherneck turnover in the 40th minute. Three minutes later from a Huskie free kick, the ball pinballed off the post and then off senior Lauren Neslund (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) who was unable to redirect it back on target as the game went to halftime scoreless.

Six minutes after halftime, Lynette Hawkins made a run down the left for the Leathernecks, cut inside and sent a shot on goal right at Lentz who made the save.

NIU had a good chance to open the scoring in the 57th minute as Hoppe got a head on a free kick and forced a save from Palmiero Herrera who pushed the ball out for a corner, which was cleared by the Leathernecks.

Neary broke the deadlock just after the hour mark as she collected the ball just outside the top of the box, took a touch around a defender and smashed a shot into the upper corner, past an outstretched Palmiero Herrera who had no chance as the Huskie freshman gave NIU a 1-0 lead.

Western Illinois (2-2-1) looked to answer as Emily Bollman took a shot from outside the box that went high in the 66th minute and Lauryn Peters sent a shot wide three minutes later.

In the 70th minute the Huskies had an excellent chance to double their advantage as Avery cut along the goal line at a tight angle to force an excellent save from Palmiero Herrera and the rebound fell to senior Kelsey Chope (San Jose, Calif./Leland) who tried to tuck a shot inside the back post but just missed.

Western Illinois had a trio of looks at goal in the final moments as Andrews, Clarke and Jenna Lundgren all tested Lentz but the NIU sophomore goalkeeper stopped all three shots to preserve her shutout and the Huskie victory.

"Anytime you can get a win on the road that is huge," said Colhoff. "Also to break our streak of allowing early goals, to get a clean sheet, for (Julia) Neary to get her first goal, there are a lot of positive moments that I think we can carry into this week in training."

NIU will return to action on week from today, September 15, when the Huskies host Loyola Chicago. Kickoff against the Ramblers is scheduled for 6 p.m.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- A second-half goal by Alina Miagkova propelled the Central Michigan soccer team to a 2-1 victory over IUPUI on Senior Day on Sunday at the CMU Soccer/Lacrosse Complex.
 
It was the second straight win for CMU, which improved to 2-0-2. IUPUI is 3-2-1. The Chippewas defeated Indiana State, 2-1, on Friday.
 
"(This was) kind of a typical Sunday afternoon game after you play on Friday," first-year CMU coach Jeremy Groves said. "Maybe not an aesthetically pleasing game on the eyes, but we did our job, we got the win, and we move on to be an undefeated 2-0-2 team."
 
Prior to the game, Chippewa seniors Marle Bringard, Zoie Reed, Ally Viazanko and Taylor Zimmerman were honored.
 
"That's the only thing that matters on Senior Day," Grove said of the victory. "It's not about balloons, streamers, and all the other stuff that sometimes gets put into Senior Day. It's about sending them off in the right way. That's what we talked about all week and emotionally how they were going to handle it. The best way you can send off seniors on Senior Day is by winning the game."
 
Redshirt junior Devyn Brough gave the Chippewas a 1-0 lead with a goal on a penalty kick in the 32nd minute. Marle Bringard was tripped by a defender in the box, setting up the PK.
 
IUPUI tied it with a goal at the 55-minute mark. Bringard found Miagkova for a goal in the 60th minute to put CMU back in front, 2-1.
 
Miagkova, a junior from Lipetsk, Russia in her first year of collegiate soccer, scored her first goal in Friday's win.
 
"I was very happy that I scored my second goal in two straight games," Miagkova said. "(It was) a good assist from Bringard."
 
CMU finished with 16 shots, six of them on goal. IUPUI had nine shots, six of them on goal. Bringard and Miagkova led CMU with four shots each.
 
CMU goalkeeper Zoie Reed had five saves.
 
"For three quarters of the game, we pushed a lot of numbers upfield and created opportunities," Groves said. "We just maybe didn't get the end product with a service or a shot on goal, which is more important. We created chances, and over the past two games we had 30-something shots."
 
The Chippewas outshot their two weekend opponents, 41-13, and finished with a combined 17-8 edge in shots on goal.
 
The 25 shots that CMU registered in Friday's win over Indiana State are the most by a MAC team this season.

The Chippewas will take the next week off and will travel to Lexington, Ky. to take on Kentucky in a nonconference game on Sunday, Sept. 22 (2 p.m.). It is the Chippewas' final nonleaguer of the season. Their Mid-American Conference opener is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 27, at Ball State.

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's soccer team played to a hard fought 2-2 double overtime draw with Albany at UB Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

With the draw, Buffalo moved to 1-2-1 on the year, while Albany is now 1-3-1.

The Bulls would strike first as Albany was called for a hand ball in the box in the 6th minute and Marcy Barberic converted the penalty kick to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.

Offense would be at a premium the remainder of the first half as the Bulls defense allowed just three shots to UB's six to maintain the one goal lead at the break.

Albany evened the score in the 51st minute as Jada Colbert flicked a ball on net past Emily Kelly to tie the game 1-1.

The score stayed that way until the 74th minute when Kaitlyn Walsh fed the ball through Gianna Yurchak who found Hannah Callaghan in the open space and she ripped a ball off the crossbar, bar down and into the top left corner from 25 yards out for her first career goal to put UB ahead 2-1.

The lead would be short-lived however, as Christina Cernuto played the ball to Jasmine Colbert who fired one past a diving Kelly from point blank range in the 80th minute to even the score at two and send the game to overtime.

Buffalo had a great look in the first overtime as Gurjeena Jandu ripped one off the cross bar in the 95th minute but that would be as close as UB would get as the two teams settled for a draw.

"Today was tough, especially going to overtime with us having just played Friday night and Albany having a whole week off," said head coach Shawn Burke. "We gave ourselves a chance today and battled until the end. We have a lot to build off of moving forward."

In net, Kelly made three saves for UB, while Sophia Chen had six stops for the Great Danes. For her efforts, Callaghan was named Player of the Match by the UB coaches.

The University of Michigan broke through with a pair of late goals, downing the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team by a 2-0 count on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 8). The non-conference match was held at U-M Soccer Stadium.

In her first collegiate start, freshman Becky Moss made six saves, including several of the spectacular variety.

The Falcons will return to action on Thursday (Sept. 12), heading north once again. BG will face Michigan State University in a 7:00 p.m. start in East Lansing.

AKRON, Ohio– The Akron women's soccer team hosted Big East opponent, Xavier, at FirstEnergy Field on Sunday afternoon but the result did not fall in favor of UA as the Musketeers claimed a 2-0 win over the Zips in non-conference action. 
 
Akron now stands 2-4-0 on the season while XU improved to 4-1-1 on the year. 
 
For the day, the Zips tallied a pair of shots in the match with both falling on goal courtesy of sophomore Aislinn Meaney (Ennis, Ireland) in the first half and freshman Lucia Lobato (Galway, Ireland) in the second period.
 
In the net, the freshman duo of Vanessa Berlin (Gau-Oderheim, Germany) and Libby Harper (Hatfield, England) combined to make three saves in the net for Akron. 
 
The Zips and Musketeers played a scoreless first half as Akron's defense limited a potent XU offense to just three shots that were all pulled in and saved by Berlin. 
 
Xavier was able to crack the Zips defense in the second stanza with a pair of goals in the 53' and 57'. 
 
Despite playing from behind, the Akron offense continued to push forward but was unable to find the back of the net before the 90 minutes were up. 
 
Akron is back in action one week from today, Sunday, Sept. 15, as the Zips three-game homestand continues when Eastern Kentucky comes to town. UA and the Colonials are scheduled for a 1 p.m. match.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After withstanding an initial surge from Kentucky, the Miami soccer team put together some scoring opportunities, but UK eventually pulled away in the second half to prevail 3-0 on Sunday.

Miami (1-4) was under siege at the early onset as Kentucky fired the first eight shots of the contest and got a goal from Marissa Bosco in the 11th minute after she corralled a loose ball from a blocked shot behind the defense and finished.

Despite the Wildcats attack, the RedHawks kept it within a shot throughout the opening frame. Soph Spinell registered MU's first shot in the 30th minute, breaking into the box and fighting off a defender for a bid that Stephanie Stull kept out. Final first half shots were 10-3 in UK's favor, but it remained a 1-0 contest at the break.

"The score does not reflect our performance today," head coach Courtney Sirmans said. "We were able to out-possess an SEC opponent on a Sunday game. We created a number of chances again that we need to finish. The strides this team has taken since preseason are phenomenal and we couldn't be more proud."

Shots became tough to come by for the first 20 plus minutes of the second half with Miami getting some possession in the attacking third. It appeared the Red & White tied it up in the 66th minute when a feed in front of the net got fired home, but MU was flagged offside to leave it still down a goal. 

Moments after catching that break, UK forced a turnover near midfield and eventually Hannah Richardson got fed behind the defense where she worked the ball up close for a tap-goal to make it a 2-0 contest. The Wildcats would then cap the scoring on a Gina Crosetti tally in the 88th minute wrap up the shutout win.

The Wildcats outshot the RedHawks 19-7 on the afternoon and held a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks. Izzie Vaccari made five saves in her third straight start in net for the Red & White.

Miami returns to the pitch on Friday when it heads to in-state foe Ohio State for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

OMAHA, Neb.  – The Eastern Michigan University soccer team fell to Creighton University, 5-2, Sept. 8 at Morrison Field. 

In the seven-goal first half, the Eagles got on the board first. In the 18th minute, Parys Kerr (Whitby, Ontario-Pickering) found Sabrina McNeill (Whitby, Ontario-Henry Street) in the box to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead.

Creighton took control of the game shortly after, scoring the next three goals in five minutes to take a 3-1 lead.

In the 28th minute, Lindsey Shira (New Baltimore, Mich.-Anchor Bay) scored her first goal since 2017, launching a shot from the top of the box and edging it between the keeper's glove and the crossbar to bring the Eagles back within one.

Before the end of the first half, Creighton added two more goals to take a 5-2 lead at halftime.

Making her collegiate debut, Rebecca Przybylo (Canton, Mich.-Plymouth) started the second half for the Eagles.

Despite chances for both sides, neither team found the back of the net in the second half, solidifying the win for Creighton, 5-2.

Mabel Dunn (Oakville, Ontario-White Oaks Secondary) tallied five saves in the first half. Przybylo recorded her first career and only save of the game in the 50th minute on her way to a scoreless 45 minutes between the pipes.

The Green and White finished with 14 shots, nine of which were on target.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Western Michigan women's soccer team suffered a 3-1 road loss at Colorado College on Sunday afternoon.

The Tigers took an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Jenna Wilt in the 26th minute but the Broncos (1-3) responded in the 28th minute on Rachel Royer's first career goal. Senior forward Grace Labadie picked up the assist on the goal as the team's stayed tied up at 1-1 into the second half.

Lucia Costanza put the Tigers up 2-1 on a goal in the 53rd minute, with Wilt picking up the assist on the would-be game-winning goal. CC added an insurance goal in the 68th minute, scored by Tayla Wheeler.

Maggie Rogers made five saves for the Broncos but was spelled by Hannah Sargent in the second half. Bailey Korhorn, Kai Sugiyama and Labadie each had two shots to lead the Broncos, who finished with 10 overall and five on goal.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday but was postponed due to weather issues. WMU canceled its game with Air Force, which was supposed to be played today.

Western Michigan opens up a five-game home stand on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. against Oakland. WMU also welcomes Kansas on Sunday at 1 p.m. before wrapping up non-conference play against Loyola Chicago on Friday, Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. Mid-American Conference play begins on Friday, Sept. 27 at 4 p.m. against Kent State, with Ohio coming to the WMU Soccer Complex on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. Admission is free.