Thursday’s Women’s Soccer Results
Ohio 2, Western Kentucky 0
UMass 1, St. John’s 0
Buffalo 3, Canisius 0
Bowling Green 1, Oakland 0
Kent State 1, Cleveland State 0
No. 2 Notre Dame 2, Western Michigan 1
Akron 0, Purdue Fort Wayne 0
Cincinnati 4, Eastern Michigan 0
Butler 2, Central Michigan 0
Eastern Kentucky 3, Toledo1
Marquette 2, Northern Illinois 0
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Ohio 2, Western Kentucky 0
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio soccer team (1-0-0) opened the 2025 season in style, with goals from Anna Burchett and Kate Robinson, defeating Western Kentucky (0-1-0), 2-0, Thursday afternoon (Aug. 14) at Chessa Field.
Overall, Ohio recorded 12 shots with seven on goal, while WKU registered seven shots with three on goal. The Bobcats recorded two corner kicks to WKU's zero, and Ohio registered three saves, while the WKU keepers registered five.
Individually, Ohio was led by junior Burchett (Prestonburg, Ky.) who had one goal on four shots, with two on goal, followed by junior Robinson (Madison Heights, Mich.) with her first goal as a Bobcat. Junior Jaimason Brooker (Powell, Ohio) added one assist and two shots, while sophomore Iro Fakinou (Athens, Greece) recorded one assist and one shot.
In goal, senior Celeste Sloma (Columbus, Ohio) played all 90 minutes and recorded her first clean sheet of the season, while making three saves.
Ohio opened the game with the first two attempts of the season when Burchett fired a ball just wide in the second minute, setting up a shot by Brooker that was blocked in the seventh minute. The Bobcats continued to hold the ball in the offensive zone over the next 15 minutes.
Ohio struck in the right after the hydration break in the 29th minute when Burchett received the pass from Brooker and fired it to the right of the diving WKU keeper, giving Ohio a 1-0 lead late into the first half.
After the Bobcats continued to keep pressure on the WKU defense, the Hilltopper offense finally got their first solid attempt of the half in the 31st minute when Sloma snagged the ball to her right to keep WKU off the board. WKU recorded a few more attempts over the final 10 minutes, but the Ohio defense kept them off the board, sending the game to the half with Ohio up, 1-0.
At the half, Ohio recorded six shots with three on goal, while WKU registered four shots with one on goal. Burchett led the way with one goal and three attempts, while Brooker added a shot and an assist in the half.
The Bobcats opened the second half as they did the first, taking control of the ball in the offensive zone, with sophomore Lillian Weller (Xenia, Ohio), senior Scout Murray (Chicago, Ill.) and Brooker all forcing the WKU keeper to make saves early in the half. WKU forced Sloma to make a save in the 65th minute, with the senior keeping the Hilltoppers off the board and the Ohio lead.
Ohio added on in the 74th minute when Robinson took advantage of a ball sent in front of the net by Fakinou, recording her first goal as a Bobcat and giving Ohio a 2-0 lead with 15 minutes to play.
UMass 1, St. John’s 0
Box Score
AMHERST, Mass. - Freshman Amelia Deren's first collegiate tally helped propel University of Massachusetts women's soccer to a 1-0 victory over St. John's on Rudd Field in the squad's 2025 season opener on Thursday afternoon. With the victory, the Minutewomen improve to 1-0-0, while the Red Storm falls to 0-1-0 on the season.
Offensive opportunities were limited in the first half with each side putting two shots on target and combining for just seven attempts at goal in total combined.
UMass ratcheted up its attack in the second half, however. Out-shooting St. John's 9-2 in the final 45 minutes and holding the Red Storm without a shot on goal in the period.
The Minutewomen broke through for the only goal of the match in the 68th minute. Graduate student Sarah DeFreitas fed Deren up top outside the box and Deren drove her shot into the bottom left corner.
UMass finished the day with 10 corners to the Red Storm's two and controlled possession, 61% to 39%. Fouls were even at 11 apiece.
Redshirt freshman Leah Nisenfeld earned the shutout with two saves for the Minutewomen, while Kayla Bower had four stops for St. John's.
Buffalo 3, Canisius 0
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's soccer team (1-0) defeated crosstown rival Canisius 3-0 in the 2025 season opener on Thursday evening at the Demske Sports Complex.
It was a historic night for head coach Shawn Burke as he became the program's all-time winningest coach with 114 career victories, accomplishing the feat in just 209 games.
"To do it at Buffalo means a lot," said Burke. "I'm very proud of what we've done with this program since 2014. We've come a long way, and I don't think we're done, we can do more and keep writing the record book. I am so proud to wear Buffalo and look forward to setting more records."
Graduate student forward Jasmine Guerber started the season with a bang, recording two goals and an assist on the night while junior midfielder Laiken Kiser scored her first goal of the season.
The Bulls were the aggressors from the start, and it paid off in the seventh minute on a set piece as Maya Galko took the corner and played a beautiful ball into the box that found the foot of Guerber who drilled a shot into the bottom right corner of the net to give the Bulls the early lead.
Buffalo continued to apply the pressure just minutes later as Guerber was able to capitalize on a Golden Griffins miscue, converting on her second goal of the night to put UB up 2-0
The Griffs looked to push late in the second half but Lexie Thompson and the UB backline were there to thwart the attack and UB maintained a two-goal lead at the half.
Buffalo continued to create chances in the second half as Ellie Simmons took a free kick in the 64th minute and played a great ball into the box that found the head of Frederique St.-Jean who flicked the ball on target but Chloe Tseros was there for the save.
The pressure then paid off just a few minutes later in the 67th minute as the Bulls made a great run up the right side where Koby Commandant drilled a shot that was saved by Tseros and Guerber answered with a shot of her own from close range that was also stopped by the keeper but Kiser was there for the rebound and put it away for her first goal of the season to give the Bulls a 3-0 lead and that would be the final.
Buffalo dominated the stat sheet, outshooting the Griffs 17-4, including 12-3 in shots on goal, while also maintaining a 7-1 advantage in corner kick opportunities. Thompson recorded three saves, while Tseros made nine stops for Canisius.
Bowling Green 1, Oakland 0
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Ella Kane scored early in the second half, and the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team protected that lead for the remainder of the evening, as the Falcons recorded a 1-0 win over Oakland University on Thursday (Aug. 14) at Cochrane Field. The non-conference match was the regular-season opener for both teams.
Isabella Mazzaferro found Kane for the goal, beating her defender down the right side of the field and playing a cross through the box for Kane to knock home at the far post. The two junior transfers gave the Falcons (1-0-0) the lead in the 53rd minute.
BGSU kept the Golden Grizzlies (0-1-0) off of the scoreboard for the remainder of the night. Sophomore Payton O'Malley made three saves, all in the first half, to earn the clean sheet.
The Falcons will be back in action on Sunday (Aug. 17), as the University of Illinois comes to Cochrane. First touch for that match is set for 1:00 p.m.
Kent State 1, Cleveland State 0
Box Score
Cleveland, Ohio- The Kent State soccer team started the 2025 campaign on a high note with a 1-0 victory over Cleveland State on Thursday night. The Golden Flashes are now unbeaten in six straight season openers dating back to 2019.
After solid defense from both sides out of the gate, Kent St. broke through as the first on the scoreboard in the 25th minute. Samantha Miller scored by cleaning up a blocked shot right in front of the goal after her teammate Kiyomi McCuasland, cruised past the edge of the Viking defense with her speed. She was credited for the assist.
That goal went on to be the only score in the contest as the second half was highlighted by stifling defenses on both ends, but especially from the Flashes. They produced several huge stops in the final ten minutes thanks to an experienced core of defenders returning from the 2024 season.
On the other side, a Cleveland St. goal from a free kick was taken off the board early in the second half.
The Flashes dominated in the stat sheet holding the Vikings to no shots on goal while leading the shots category 16-3 despite the Vikings slightly winning the possession battle.
Kent St. also shut out the home team in the corner kicks department 7-0. Goalkeeper Leah Shaffer held in tough in her first game as a starter.
