Thursday’s MAC Women’s Soccer Results
Ball State 2, Toledo 0
Miami 1, Ohio 0
Western Michigan 1, Northern Illinois 0
Kent State 1, Buffalo 0
Eastern Michigan 2, Central Michigan 1
Bowling Green 3, Akron 0
 
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information
 
 
Ball State 2, Toledo 0
Box Score
 
MUNCIE, Ind. – Toledo put up a strong fight on Thursday afternoon against Mid-American Conference West Division preseason favorite Ball State but ended up on the short end of a 2-0 decision to the Cardinals. The contest was the opening match for both squads in their 2021 spring seasons.

Ball State struck first 19:28 into the contest when senior Shelby Kean headed in a corner kick from junior Lexy Smith.  The Cardinals added another goal less than six minutes later when junior Tatiana Mason got behind the Rocket defense to score.

Toledo registered five shots and limited the Cardinals to eight.  Redshirt freshman Emma Boutorwick made her collegiate debut and recorded three saves, including a diving stop at the 62' mark on a shot from 2019 first-team All-MAC honoree Nicky Potts.

The Rockets registered their best scoring chance when senior Sophia Lewis was denied by Ball State's senior goalkeeper Maitane Bravo in the second half.

Boutorwick was one of five Rockets making their first collegiate start. She was joined by freshman Caylee Jozefov, freshman Rachel Kraysovic, sophomore Vanessa Jones and freshman Ellie Pool.

Toledo will host the Huskies on Sunday, March 7 at 1:00 p.m. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be seen locally on BCSN. General public attendance will not be permitted at Hotmer Field this season.
 
 
Miami 1, Ohio 0
Box Score
 
ATHENS, Ohio– The Miami University women's soccer team downed Ohio University with a goal from freshman midfielder Julia Hoffmann at the 56-minute mark and eight saves from junior Izzie Vaccari in Thursday's contest. Miami starts its season 1-0 and Ohio drops to 0-1.

In the first 10 minutes of the half, Ohio had two shots and one shot on goal. A corner kick in the 14th minute opened it up for Miami, although no goal was secured. 

Sophomore forward Haley Anspach had the first shot for the RedHawks at 16:52. She followed up with a shot on goal at 18:10, but the Ohio keeper turned both shots away.

Both teams had one corner in the first half and three fouls. Miami ended the half 0-0 with five saves by Vaccari. Miami finished the game with five corners to Ohio's one.

Hoffman scored an unassisted goal at 55:38, the lone goal of the game.

Hoffmann's goal was the first of her career with Miami.

Vaccari's eight saves gave the junior her third career shutout.

The RedHawks host the University at Buffalo at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 7.
 

Western Michigan 1, Northern Illinois 0
Box Score
 
DEKALB, Ill. - After a long wait, the Western Michigan women's soccer team opened the 2020-21 season with a 1-0 win at Northern Illinois on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The game was tied at 0-0 heading into the final 10 minutes when junior forward Morgan Otteson broke up a pass. Freshman Cas Flanagan corralled the loose ball and played it between two NIU defenders for senior midfielder Baily Korhorn. Korhorn trapped the ball and composed herself before slotting the ball into the net from just inside the 18-yard box for WMU' first goal of the season.
 
The Broncos outshot the Huskies 10-6 overall on the day. Junior goalkeeper Hannah Sargent needed to make just three saves on the day to earn her first victory and clean sheet of the season.
 
"Today was an exciting one for the team," said head coach Sammy Boateng. "After 16 months without playing an official game it felt great to be able to compete. We started the game really well and created some good opportunities but didn't capitalize on the final ball well enough."
 
Korhorn led the Broncos with six shots on the day, landing all of them on goal. WMU's back line of Emily Dahl, Lexi Nickole, Mary Claire Burnett and Katie Schuemacher all went the full 90.
 
"Overall, this was a team victory," Boateng added. "We have a lot of depth this year and this will be our strength. Everyone did their job and we capitalized on our opportunity today."
 
Western Michigan returns to Kalamazoo to host Eastern Michigan on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Waldo Stadium.
 

Kent State 1, Buffalo 0
Box Score
 
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State soccer team (1-0-0) shut out the Buffalo Bulls (0-1-0) to open the 2021 spring season, winning 1-0.
On a cold and snowy day at Dix Stadium, the teams played a physical and competitive match, combining for 27 fouls. The decisive moment in the game came in the 29th minute when Vital Kats found redshirt senior Yasmine Hall in space on the right wing. Hall, who made her return to the team after missing 2019 due to injury, cut the ball onto her left foot and fired a curling shot inside the near post the put the Flashes up 1-0. Freshman Luca Ralph picked up the secondary assist on the goal for a point in her collegiate debut.

The Bulls battled back, earning eight corners and recording four shots on goal. The defense held strong and sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Melén saved everything she faced to earn the shut out in her first collegiate start.

Kent State will be back in action on Sunday when they host the Akron Zips in the first of two meetings this season with their archrivals, scheduled to start at 1p.m.
 

Eastern Michigan 2, Central Michigan 1
Box Score
 
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — In its first action of the season, the Eastern Michigan University soccer team defeated Central Michigan University, 2-1, inside the St. Joe's Sports Dome, Thursday, March 4.
 
In the opening half, Central Michigan (0-1) controlled most of the play, finding the back of the net at the 20-minute mark and holding a 1-0 lead at the break. EMU (1-0) saw a chance to level in the 29th minute when it was awarded a corner, but could not convert its first attempt of the night. Despite the setback, Eastern would come out firing in the second half, getting a few good looks on goal.
 
It wasn't until the 77th minute, however, that the Eagles knotted the game at one. Awarded a corner kick, the ball was sent to junior Haley Tausend (Barrington, Ill.-Barrington), who in turn was able to find the head of junior Sarah Ash (South Lyon, Mich.-South Lyon), who sent it to the top-right corner of the net for the tie. From there, it was the Eagles who controlled the play and looked to end the game in regulation.
 
It only took 10 minutes for the Eagles to strike again, as freshman Lexy Alston (Amherst, Ohio-Marion L. Steele) recovered the ball from the Chippewas and proceeded to take the CMU keeper one-on-one, drilling the ball to the back of the net to score the game-winner and give the Eagles the lead, 2-1. With the goal, Alston became the 10th EMU player in program history to score in her debut game, just one season after teammate Amanda Cripps (Bradford, Ontario-Trinity Catholic) did so in her 2019 debut.

With just three minutes remaining, Eastern was able to combat the last-minute scoring efforts by the Chippewas to seal the win, 2-1.

In net, senior Chelsea Abbotts (Ottawa, Ontario-Mother Teresa) helped keep EMU within striking distance, tallying four saves on the afternoon, including a 71st minute stop that allowed the Eagles to regain possession and begin its comeback push.
 
Though the Chippewas controlled a majority of the play, the Eagles were able to top CMU in shots on goal, 6-5, but finished even in assists (1-1), corner kicks (4-4) and saves (4-4).
 
The Green and White will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. to take on Mid-American Conference and in-state rival Western Michigan University, Sunday, March 7 at 2 p.m.
 

Bowling Green 3, Akron 0
Box Score
 
AKRON, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team opened the regular-season schedule with an emphatic 3-0 road win over the University of Akron on Thursday night (March 4). The Mid-American Conference match was held at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Junior Lynsey Spotts scored what would prove to be the winning goal late in the first half, while sophomore Kennedy White doubled the BG lead early in the second period.

Lacee Bethea capped the scoring with her first goal as a Falcon in her first collegiate match.

The Falcons, playing a game that counted for the first time in 475 days, outshot the Zips by a 14-5 count, and had a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal. Lili Berg and Becky Moss combined on the shutout in goal, as each Falcon keeper made one save.