Friday's Women's Soccer Results
Toledo 3, Akron 0
Buffalo 1, Central Michigan 0
Kent State 2, Eastern Michigan 1 (OT)
Ball State 1, Western Michigan 0
Miami 3, Northern Illinois 1
Bowling Green 2, Ohio 1
Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications
Toledo 3, Akron 0
Box Score
TOLEDO, OH - A big second half helped propel the Rockets past Akron, 3-0, on Friday evening at Scott Park. A pair of goals from junior captain Megan Connor and redshirt freshman Isa Echeverri just minutes apart helped Toledo cruise to the shutout victory.
The Rockets held a 13-9 edge in shots including a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal. Echeverri led the Midnight Blue & Gold with four shots while junior midfielder Geri Siudzinski followed closely with three blasts of her own.
Junior keeper Sam Tiongson tallied five saves and registered her sixth shutout of the season. The Carmel, IN native has recorded back-to-back shutouts dating back to a 1-0 win over Bowling Green on Oct. 12.
The Rockets opened the contest with lots of pressure on the Zips and nearly broke through just 10 minutes into the contest as Echeverri found space. The Medellin, Colombia native fired a shot from 25 yards out and beat the keeper but the ball bounced off of the crossbar and out of play.
The teams traded possession for most of the first half and Akron nearly capitalized as Lani Smith broke free behind the UT defense and had a one-on-one shot at Tiongson. However, Tiongson stood tall, showed great patience and made an acrobatic diving save to keep the game tied at 0-0 with 14 minutes to play in the half.
The save seemed to jolt the Rockets attack and Siudzinski took matters into her own hands. After a give-and-go play with senior Rio James, Siudzinski dribbled through and around the UA defenders and ripped a shot from just outside the box, which found the back of the net to give Toledo the 1-0 lead just before the half.
The Rockets upped the pressure and really pressed the Akron players early in the second half looking for their second goal of the game. UT was rewarded for their efforts as Connor gathered a rebound just outside the box and rifled a shot inside the near the post and rippled the net to make it 2-0 Toledo.
Just two minutes later Toledo once again lit the scoreboard as freshman forward Chiara Paradiso sent in a lofted cross from the left side and Echeverri sent a rainbow header over the goalie and into the net.
Despite the 3-0 lead, Toledo continued to apply pressure and tallied nine second half shots. Akron’s offense was stifled by the solid Rocket defenders and could not find a quality chance to cut into the lead.
Toledo will honor six seniors before its game against Buffalo at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. Seniors Kirsten Catloth, Brooke Lawler, Meghan Topolewski, Rio James, Alexis Tice and Sarah Seig will each be recognized for their efforts and accomplishments during their collegiate career at UT.
Sunday’s game will be aired live on BCSN.
Buffalo 1, Central Michigan 0
Box Score
MT. PLEASANT, MI - The State University of New York, Buffalo women's soccer team (9-2-3, 5-0-2 MAC) extended their program record unbeaten Mid-American Conference start to seven games as they defeated the Central Michigan Chippewas by the score of 1-0 on Friday afternoon on the road. The win gives UB their longest unbeaten streak, seven, since 1998 when the Bulls were unbeaten for 12 contests to start the season.
"Winning in the MAC is hard, let alone winning on the road," said head coach Shawn Burke. "The three points are nice but as a group we still need to get better in possession and creating chances."
Offensively UB was led by Celina Carrero who finished off her afternoon with the game-winning goal and three shots while Katie Roberts and Julia Benati each finished with a game-high four shots. Andrea Niper had one shot off the bench for the Bulls and also had a goal disallowed on an offside call.
The game-winning goal for the Bulls came in the 6th minute off the foot of Carrero. The Newburgh, NY native had her first attempt blocked by the CMU defender but she stayed with the play, stealing the ball back and beating Heather Laeufer with a low shot into the right corner. The goal was her fourth of the season, ranking her second on the team.
In the 25th minute, team captain Courtney Mann almost gave the Bulls the 2-0 lead as she had a blast from 25-yards out that forced a diving stop by the Chippewas keeper. On the ensuing corner kick, Roberts had a header opportunity that was saved from going in the low left corner by the diving CMU keeper.
For the half, UB controlled most of play as they held the 9-3 advantage in shots. Defensively, the Bulls did not allow any quality scoring chances to the Chippewas.
Early on in the second half, Benati saw her blast of a shot from 15-yards out ring off the cross bar and out of harm's way. Only two minutes later, Niper had her shot saved by the diving CMU keeper to preserve the 1-0 UB lead.
In the 55th minute, junior Jackie Hall made a huge defensive play as she knocker her opponent off the ball as the forward attempted to go in all alone on the Bulls keeper. Hall's strong play continued for the Bulls down the stretch of the game.
The Chippewas had a great chance in the 70th minute of play but Laura Dougall stood tall and made a nice sliding save on a CMU breakaway effort.
In the 85th minute, Niper appeared to extend the Bulls lead to 2-0 as she headed the ball past the CMU keeper but UB was flagged for offside, negating the nice goal. The Bulls defense hung tough in the final five minutes to preserve the teams 10th shutout of the season.
In goal, Dougall continued her solid play as she finished with three saves in her ninth victory of the season. The 1-0 victory also gave Dougall nine clean sheets on the season, ranking her second in program history for shutouts in a season. She is one shutout shy of tying Ainsley Wheldon's program record of 10 shutouts during the 2011 season. Dougall's nine victories also rank her third in program history for wins in a season.
For the game, UB held the 17-4 advantage in shots along with the slim 3-2 lead in corner kicks.
Following the match, Mann as awarded the "Player of the Match" award by the UB coaching staff after another strong performance in the midfield for the Bulls. Mann was all over the field for UB as she helped the Bulls allow only three shots on goal for the game.
When asked about the play of Mann, head coach Shawn Burke stated, "I Can't say enough about the play of Courtney Mann this afternoon. The effort she gives day in and day out is unmatched."
Kent State 2, Eastern Michigan 1 (OT)
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich.- Freshman Jaime Eiben scored in the 96th minute to lead the Kent State women's soccer team to a 2-1 overtime victory over Eastern Michigan on Friday afternoon at Scicluna Field. The Golden Flashes improved to 8-4-3 (3-2-2 MAC), while the Eagles dropped to 8-5-1 (4-3-0 MAC).
The Golden Flashes struck first in the 12th minute when freshman Kristen Brots received a pass from Stephanie Haugh and put one past EMU goalkeeper Megan McCabe to take a 1-0 lead.
Just six minutes later, the Eagles responded when Angela Vultaggio netted her seventh goal of the season on a through ball from Bianca Rossi. Kent State junior Stephanie Senn came out of the goal to get the ball, but Vultaggio put one into the net to even the score.
In the first two periods, Eastern Michigan led 13-10 in shots, but Kent State led in corner kicks, 4-2.
Kent State came out on the attack in the first overtime period, out-shooting the Eagles 4-1. Madison Helterbran flicked an Alyssa Meier free kick over to Eiben, who put one past McCabe in the 96th minute to earn her first career goal.
Senn tallied six saves for the Flashes and earned the win in net to improve to 8-4-3. McCabe recorded five saves and dropped to 8-4-1.
The Golden Flashes will now travel to Bowling Green State University for a 1 p.m. game on Sunday, Oct. 19. Live Stats can be found on bgsufalcons.com.
Ball State 1, Western Michigan 0
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. -- Leah Mattingly scored on a header in the 88th minute Friday and the Ball State soccer team claimed a dramatic, 1-0 win over Western Michigan at the Briner Sports Complex.
It was the second straight shutout victory for the Cardinals, which improved to 8-4-2 (4-3 Mid-American Conference) by avenging a loss in last year’s MAC Tournament championship game. Western Michigan dropped to 9-5-1 (3-3-1 MAC).
“Western Michigan is a very good team, one of the best teams we’ve played this year,” Ball State coach Craig Roberts said. “We’re in a hard stretch of games right now. We’ve told our team it’s going to be a challenge, and right now our girls are meeting the challenge.”
Alyssa Heintschel made her second straight start in goal for Ball State and recorded another shutout. She made six saves, including five in the first half to keep the Cardinals even. She made another key save in the final minute to preserve the win.
A strong wind played a major factor throughout the game. Western Michigan played with the wind at its back during the opening half and controlled play. The Broncos fired nine shots and put the Cardinals in some tough positions.
“We had to weather the wind,” Roberts said. “We really couldn’t get out and get any offense going in the first half, so it was our opportunity to generate offense in the second half. We pushed more players forward as the game went on, and I felt that troubled Western.”
Ball State generated a couple scoring chances in the second half before breaking through. Franziska Sottner had a shot deflected in the closing minutes that led to Ball State’s second corner kick of the day. Cailey Starck lined up the corner and sent it into the box, where Mattingly was waiting to knock it in.
“I ran in and the ball went right over Vic (Jacobs) and Lauren (Hall), and I just headed it and was praying it would go in,” Mattingly said. “I couldn’t ask for a better goal. We had a tough loss to this team last year in the MAC finals, and we didn’t want that to happen again.”
It was the third goal of the season for Mattingly and the fifth assist of the year for Starck. Western Michigan tried to answer late on a loose ball in the box, but Heintschel secured her final save of the day with 49 seconds on the clock. It was the seventh shutout in eight wins this season for the Cardinals.
Ball State will ride the momentum from back-to-back shutouts of Kent State and Western Michigan into another important MAC game Sunday. The Cardinals will continue their weekend home stand with a 2 p.m. contest against Northern Illinois.
Miami 3, Northern Illinois 1
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – Two first half goals from Kat Zalar gave the RedHawks the lead and an insurance goal by Kelsey Dinges in the second gave Miami a 3-1 win over Northern Illinois.
The RedHawks (11-2-1, 5-1-1 MAC) controlled the game taking 15 shots while the Huskies (5-8-2, 3-2-2 MAC) could muster just four.
“All MAC points are good MAC points,” Bobby Kramig said after his team picked up three points with the win over NIU. “I’m pleased we were able to come out and play a good game against Northern Illinois who is having a good year.”
Miami controlled the action in the early minutes getting the first five shots of the game before Zalar got going. The freshman scored her first goal in improbable fashion by bending a shot from left of the goal around the goalie and deflecting off of right post and into the goal to give the RedHawks a 1-0 lead. Zalar didn’t make it as interesting when she scored again just eight minutes later. After an NIU turnover Maggie Scott found Zalar in the box who worked her way around the goalie and found the back of the net to make it 2-0.
The Huskies pulled back within one when Maggie Renfro found Allie Ingram in front of the net on a corner kick and Ingram scored to make it 2-1 as the teams headed to the half.
“I told the kids at halftime that we needed to have a good, professional effort this half,” Kramig said of his message when the team held a one goal lead. “At 2-1 some fluke could happen and they could get another goal and we didn’t want that to happen. Then we scored a really terrific third goal so I thought it was a composed effort.”
With the wind at their back the RedHawks controlled possession and outshot the Huskies 11-1 in the first half. The side change in the second half didn’t affect their control of the game as they maintained possession for much of the second half as well.
Miami took advantage of the possession as Haley Walter made a cross to Dinges who scored her ninth goal of the season to provide an insurance goal for the RedHawks.
Kramig said this final homestand is a prime opportunity to continue the team’s streak of not losing a contest and grabbing six points. His team understands that, too.
“It’s very important to get these last three home points before we go on the road to end the season,” Zalar said after her multi-goal performance.
The RedHawks wrap up their home schedule on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Western Michigan before playing their final three games of the regular season on the road.
Bowling Green 2, Ohio 1
Box Score
Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team overcame rain, wet field conditions and a 1-0 halftime deficit with two second half goals from freshmen Madison Schupbach and Leah Runkle to upend the Ohio Bobcats 2-1 on Friday night at Cochrane Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio.
"It's great (to win at home). It has been a long time coming in terms of piecing the final product together. But for our players to win at home on a Friday night in front of their home crowd (it was great)," commented head coach Lindsay Basalyga. "We had a great week of training and to see some of the things we worked on through the week play out in a game, and again at home, I am just really, really happy for the players."
Not to be lost in the come from behind win was Lauren Cadel's career-high 14 saves, surpassing her previous career-high of 13 stops set just last time out on Sunday, Oct. 12, versus Toledo.
The win puts BGSU at 3-11-0 on the season and 2-5-0 in MAC play, while the loss drops Ohio to 6-9-0 overall and 3-4-0 in conference play.
Bowling Green's win on Friday night was the first home win for the Falcons at Cochrane Stadium since a 2-1 win at home over IUPUI on August 26, 2012. The win was also the first home MAC win for BGSU since shutting out Northern Illinois 2-0 at home back on Oct. 23, 2011.
"This week we've been really focusing on looking for space and not being so direct. We made it very clear to one another that we needed to be more dynamic in the attack and I think overall we did a great job with that," said Runkle. "Just from here we just need to keep working toward that. I mean it wasn't perfect, but we need to just keep working for the goals we set for ourselves."
Ohio put pressure on the Falcons from the opening touch, as the Bobcats registered five shots to the Falcons one over the first eight minutes of play and eventually broke through in the ninth minute to go up early 1-0 on a shot from Megan Niebuhr off a rebounded save from Cadel in front of the net.
BGSU attempted to stay in the contest early with shots from Runkle in the eighth minute, Skylar Fleak in the 18th minute and Schupbach in the 23rd minute, however, Ohio's Nicole Amari made saves in goal for the Bobcats on the first two shots and then watched as the third flew high and out of play to keep the score at 1-0 in favor of the visitors in green with 20 minutes to go in the opening half.
The Bobcats, who recorded 13 shots overall and put 10 on frame in the first half, continued to put pressure on Cadel and the BGSU defensive backline, as the redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper made back-to-back saves on an Erin Freeney shot and a Tonya Frasik attempt over a 33 second span to keep the score at 1-0.
Following another save by Ohio's Amari on a Fleak shot in the 32nd minute, Cadel made a save on a shot in the 33rd and another in the 45th minutes of play to send the game into the halftime break at 1-0 in favor of the Bobcats.
The Falcons began the second half with what appeared to be a sense of urgency, as the home team in white got an early shot from Fleak in the 49th minute and a stop once again by Cadel in the 50th minute which seemed to set the tone for the final half of play.
In the 53rd minute, the Orange and Brown found an opening, as Runkle played a ball through the Ohio defense that went across the midline and down towards the right side of the box. Schupbach raced past an Ohio defender, beat the player in green to the ball and made a one touch slide move to the center of the field. There the freshmen put a strong left leg behind the ball and sent it screaming through the air toward the goal and past the Ohio goalkeeper to tie the score up at 1-1.
The goal was the second of the season for Schupbach, while the assist was Runkle's team-high fourth on the year.
With the score tied at 1-1 and the rain continuing to soak the already wet field, the Falcons weathered an offensive barrage right in front of the goal by Ohio in the 57th minute, in which Ohio's Hannah Jaggers had a shot blocked by a defender off a corner kick just in front of the net. The blocked ball bounded back into the box, where Liz Finley took a shot, but had it sent right back to her by a BGSU defender in goal. Ohio's Finley abruptly fired another shot toward the goal which was again cleared out by a BGSU defender into the box, where this time Alexis Milesky tried with a shot toward the goal only to see Cadel make a save on the play.
Ohio threatened again in the 59th minute on a Milesky shot from 25 yards out, which was stopped once again by Cadel, while BGSU's Fleak and Schupbach each looked for the go-ahead goal over the next several minutes, but to no avail.
However, just a minute later, the Falcons would strike again, as freshman Mikaela Couch made a great move to the center of the box and played a pass to a cutting Runkle along the right side who found herself behind the Ohio defense and 1-v-1 with the Ohio goalkeeper. Runkle went top self with the shot, putting it over Amari's head and just under the crossbar to put the home team on top 2-1 in the 68th minute.
The goal was Runkle's first career goal as a Falcon, while the assist was the first of Couch's career.
Not satisfied with the 2-1 lead, BGSU looked to add an insurance goal, as senior Sidney Huth posted two shots over the next three minutes, while Runkle forced Ohio into another save on a shot from the right side of the box in the 71st minute.
Looking for the equalizer, Ohio had one shot blocked in the 76th minute, two shots fly offline in the 83rd minute and a fourth shot go wide of the frame in the 85th minute, as the BGSU defense refused to give the Bobcats an open scoring chance.
BGSU came within inches of adding another goal late, as freshman Rachel Winters put a free kick on target in the 87th minute which was stopped by Ohio's Amari. However, the Bobcat goalkeeper was unable to catch the ball cleanly and lost the ball in front of the goal where Couch put her foot on the ball and sent it toward the goal. The Couch shot hit Amari once again sending the ball back into the box where Fleak tried to score the goal, but had an Ohio defender get in the way of the shot and clear it out.
The Falcons' Cadel made sure that the win would not slip away, as she made a save in front of the back post on a long shot from Jaggers, a flicked shot over the BGSU defense in the 89th minute, and another stop late on a shot from outside the top of the box by Annie Beard as the final seconds ticked away.
Cadel's total saves of 14 on the night gives her four games this season with double digit saves and a new BGSU career record of 10 games with double digit saves overall.
Ohio outshot BGSU 27-20 for the match and held a 5-4 edge in corner kicks on the night.
Bowling Green totaled 12 fouls to the Bobcats' nine and totaled 16 saves on the night.
The Falcons will look to make it two in a row on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 19, as BGSU will return to Cochrane Stadium to host Kent State at 1 p.m. on Senior Day. Prior to the game the Falcons will recognize redshirt-senior Kylie Briem, as well as seniors Ashley Garr and Sidney Huth.
