KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The 2024 MAC Women’s Soccer Championship continues on Thursday, Nov. 7 with a pair of semifinal matches on the campus of Western Michigan University.
Semifinal action kicks off at 11 a.m. ET between No. 2 Buffalo and No. 3 Ohio. The final championship spot will be claimed by the wineer of No. 1 Western Michigan or No. 4 Kent State. The Broncos and Golden Flashes face off at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Both matches will be broadcasted live on ESPN+.
Below is a team-by-team preview ahead of Thursday’s postseason competition courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments.
GAME 3: SEMIFINALS | KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN
No. 2 Buffalo vs. No. 3 Ohio
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Team-By-Team Previews
NO. 2 BUFFALO BULLS
After securing the #2 seed in the 2024 Mid-American Conference Tournament, the University at Buffalo women's soccer team (10-1-7, 5-1-4 MAC) will take on the defending MAC champions and third-seeded Ohio in the first semifinal of the day on Thursday at 11am at the WMU Soccer Complex in Kalamazoo.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Evan Stockton (play-by-play) and Kevin Piel (color) announcing.
It will be the 30th meeting between Buffalo and Ohio with the Bulls teams knotted at a 14-14-1 overall series record. The Bulls defeated the Bobcats 2-0 at UB Stadium on October 24.
The MAC announced its postseason soccer awards on Tuesday morning, with five Buffalo student-athletes earning postseason recognition, highlighted by sophomore Lexie Thompson who was named Goalkeeper of the Year. Thompson also earned a spot on the All-MAC First Team. Joining her on the first team is graduate student defender Frederique St.-Jean while senior midfielder Kaya Schultz and junior defender Ellie Simmons received All-MAC Second Team honors. Additionally, Carolyn Hinkle earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
In blustery conditions, Buffalo battled to a scoreless draw at the CMU Soccer Complex to earn the #2 seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament. Buffalo outshot Central Michigan 12-9, including 11-2 in the second half with four shots on goal. Thompson turned in another stellar performance, making six saves in her 11th shutout of the season.
The Bulls are balanced offensively, with 25 goals scored off the feet of 12 different players, led by senior forward Jasmine Guerber who has five goals while Arianna Zumpano has come alive in league play, scoring four goals. Thompson has led the Bulls between the pipes, compiling a 10-1-7 overall record while recording 11 shutouts, a .44 goals against average and a .890 save percentage. Thompson leads the MAC and ranks in the top 10 nationally in those three categories.
As a team, the Bulls are one of the best defensive teams in the MAC as they lead the league and rank in the top 15 nationally in goals against average (.44) save percentage (.895) and shutout percentage (.611). They also rank in the top four in the league in corner kicks per game (4.7), shots per game (13.5), goals allowed (7), goals against average (.064) and goal differential (22).
NO. 3 OHIO BOBCATS
The third-seeded Ohio soccer team (11-4-4) travels to Kalamazoo, Mich. on Thursday, (Nov. 7) to take on No. 2 Buffalo (10-1-7) in the Mid-American Conference Semifinals hosted by regular season Champions, Western Michigan. First touch is set for 11 a.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
The Bobcats ended the regular season with an overall record of 10-4-4 and a 5-3-3 mark in MAC play.
Overall, this season, Ohio scored 35 goals for a 1.84 goals per game average, while holding opponents to just 12 goals and a 0.63 goals per game average.
Ohio continued to prove to be one of the best defensive teams in the MAC this season, only allowing seven goals in 11 matches during conference play. This was helped by stellar goalkeeping from Sloma, who finished the year with 60 saves, a GAA of 0.573, and ten clean sheets.
Offensively, Jaimason Brooker (Powell, Ohio) led the Bobcats with seven goals, six assists and 20 points overall, with five goals one assist and 11 points coming in conference play. Rayann Pruss (Perrysburg, Ohio) added 10 points for Ohio during the season, with three goals and four assists, while graduate student Aubrey Rea (Akron, Ohio) added four goals and one assist and nine points, with five of those points coming during conference play.
On Nov. 5, five Bobcats earned All-MAC Postseason Awards.
Junior Norah Roush (Dublin, Ohio) was named Defensive Player of the Year in addition to earning a spot on the All-MAC First Team alongside junior Eve Berish (Hudson, Ohio) and sophomore Jaimason Brooker (Powell, Ohio). Additionally, juniors Maia Kaufman (Westerville, Ohio) and Celeste Sloma (Columbus, Ohio) were selected for the All-MAC Second Team
GAME 4: SEMIFINALS | KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN
No. 1 Western Michigan vs. No. 4 Kent State
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Team-By-Team Previews
NO. 1 WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS
The Western Michigan women's soccer team will begin postseason play on Thursday afternoon against Kent State. The Broncos and Golden Flashes will take the field at 2:30 PM at the WMU Soccer Complex in second of two MAC Tournament Semifinal matches.
With its win over Northern Illinois last Thursday, Western Michigan became the first team in MAC Women's Soccer history to finish back-to-back seasons with an unbeaten record in conference play.
The Broncos haven't lost a conference game since October of 2022. WMU won the conference by seven points this season.
The Mid-American Conference announced its annual specialty awards and All-MAC Teams on Tuesday afternoon. The Broncos were well represented.
Jen Blitchok ran away with the Offensive Player of the Year award and earned First Team All-MAC honors for the second consecutive season. Coach Lewis Robinson and his staff were named the Coaching Staff of the Year after earning back-to-back undefeated seasons in conference play.
Joining Blitchok on the All-MAC First Team were Madi Canada and Heidi Thomasma. Abby Werthman was the lone Bronco on the All-MAC Second Team.
That quartet of players spearheaded another strong 2024 season, as they have combined for 70 points on 24 goals and 22 assists. Defensively, WMU has allowed just 13 goals this season.
Western Michigan and Kent State have become pretty familiar with each other over the last couple of years, with this being the fourth match between the two programs in the last two seasons.
The Broncos beat the Golden Flashes in the regular season before falling to them in the MAC Tournament later in the season last year. This year, WMU again beat KSU in the regular season and will have a chance to avenge last season's loss.
The Brown and Gold will do so with Callie Cunningham, who is a transfer from KSU. She scored the game-winning goal against the Broncos in last year's semifinal match.
NO. 4 KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES
The Kent State soccer team travels to Kalamazoo to face off against the top-seeded Western Michigan Broncos. This is an identical rematch of last year's Mid-American Conference semifinal matchup from one year ago. Kick is currently slated for 2:30 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Kent State soccer team took down the Miami RedHawks Sunday afternoon at Zoeller Field at Dix Stadium to advance to the Mid-American Conference semi-final for the second year in a row. Siena Stambolich scored a walk-off olympico with just 12 second left in the first period of extra time.
The Golden Flashes got on the board early with a goal in the 2nd minute from Alisa Arthur. Jules Dolinski fired a rocket at the goalie that she defected right to the feet of Arthur who tapped it in for her 10th goal of the season, tying her mark from last season.
Alisa Arthur is rising in many categories of the Kent State record book. The senior is now fifth in goals (26) and points (66), seventh in shots (182) and shots on goal (85), and almost top-10 in assists.
Senior midfielders Alisa Arthur and Siena Stambolich earned Second Team All-MAC honors following their stellar senior campaigns. Both Arthur and Stambolich have been consistently great in the Kent State careers and this year is no different with both being in the top three on the team in goals, points, shots, shots on goal, and game-winners.
Kent State's stellar freshman forward Jules Dolinski earn MAC Freshman of the Year honors Tuesday. Dolinski is third on the team in points with six (2 goals and 2 assists), all six of which came in Mid-American Conference play helping the Flashes secure the fourth seed. Along with Dolinski the Flashes placed Allison Collins, Ali Weibel, and Katie Henahan on the MAC All-Freshman team.
