Mid-American Conference

MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State soccer team erupted offensively in the second half Friday and ran away with a 5-0 win over Bowling Green at the Briner Sports Complex.

The Cardinals scored four of their goals after halftime in the Mid-American Conference opener to improve to 5-1-2 (1-0 MAC) and run their unbeaten streak to five straight. Bowling Green dropped to 1-7 (0-1 MAC) with the loss.

The five goals were the most for the Cardinals in a single game since a Sept. 11, 2011 victory over Lamar. Brigit Reder recorded a hat trick that day for the Cardinals, but Friday it was a collection of players doing the work. Madison Oyer, Orla Travers-Gillespie, Kelsey Wendlandt and Aly Kohanowski all scored, and the Cardinals also had the benefit of an own goal.

Oyer's 20th-minute goal on an assist from Jasmine Moses was the lone score of the night for a long time. It was a 1-0 game at the break, and Bowling Green generated a few chances early in the second half as it tried to even the score.

"We made a tactical change midway through the second half, and it enabled us to get more width and lock down the central portion of the field, which they were having a little bit of success with," Ball State coach Craig Roberts said. "Lindsay Kempf made a big change in the game as a holding midfield player for us and was able to win those headers that perhaps were causing us one or two problems."

The floodgates opened in the 64th minute when Moses headed a ball across the front of the goal that was deflected into the net by a Bowling Green player. The Cardinals went on to score two more times in the next five minutes.

Travers-Gillespie connected on a penalty kick for her first career goal after Kempf was taken down in the box. Then Wendlandt took a pass from Shannon Greeley and knocked the ball by Bowling Green keeper Alexis Smith as she was coming out to defend.

Ball State tacked on the final score of the night in the 86th minute on the first career goal for Kohanowski, a freshman. Smith came off her line again, but Kohanowski beat her to a long, over the top pass from Cailey Starck and sent it past the keeper and rolling into the net.

For the second game in a row, Ball State was able to use its depth with 27 different players seeing action and contributing to the win.

"We talked after the game that it's not about the starting 11; it's about the complete squad performance," Roberts said. "I thought we started out the game well, and scoring some goals allowed us to get fresh legs in the game."

The Cardinals kept Bowling Green off the scoreboard to record their fourth shutout of the season. Brooke Dennis played the game's first 75 minutes and recorded four saves before giving way to freshman Alyssa Heintschel for the final 15 minutes.

Ball State will continue MAC play on the road Sunday with a 1 p.m. contest at Eastern Michigan. The Cardinals then return home next weekend for games against Central Michigan and Toledo.

KENT, OH – The University at Buffalo women's soccer team (5-2-1, 1-0-0 MAC) got back on the winning track on Friday afternoon in their conference opener against the Kent State Golden Flashes, winning by the score of 2-0. Laura Dougall secured her fifth shutout of the season with an eight save effort in goal for the Bulls.

"We had a massive team effort victory this afternoon," said head coach Shawn Burke. "We were very well organized in the back and got a couple big time saves from Laura Dougall to preserve the shutout."

The Bulls jumped out to a quick start for the first time in awhile on Friday as they recorded the first three shot attempts of the contest before burying the first goal of the contest in the eighth minute of action. Following a pair of blocked shots off the foot of senior Katie Roberts, junior Kassidy Kidd headed a shot that was saved but bounced right to Roberts who found the back of the net, her third of the year. The Kidd to Roberts connection scored for the second straight game for UB.

The Golden Flashes made a push in the next 12 minutes as Dougall stood up and made a pair of huge saves to keep the Bulls ahead, 1-0. In the 22nd minute, sophomore Celina Carrero provided the Bulls a huge goal to create some breathing room with Kent State. Carrero took a Roberts feed and bent a shot over the outstretched arms of Stephanie Senn for the goal from 25 yards away. The long distance tally for Carrero tied her for the team lead in goals, three, with Roberts.

The two squads went back-and-forth in the final 23 minutes of action as Dougall was asked to make only one more save while the Bulls put two shots on the Kent State keeper. For the half, both teams recorded 11 shots.

UB started out the second half strong as they recorded four shots on goal before the Golden Flashes recorded their first of the half. Carrero opened up the half with a header that was saved by Senn and then Roberts, Ashley Evans and Andrea Niper each had their attempts pushed aside by the keeper. Midway through the second half, Sophie Therien had her best chance of the contest but her shot from distance rang off the post and was cleared by the Golden Flashes.

In the 86th minute of action, Carrero came close to recording her second of the night but her blast went off the post and out, preserving the 2-0 road conference victory for the Bulls.

"The difference tonight was the play of Katie Roberts and Celina Carrero up front," stated Burke. "Roberts' ability to maintain possession and her goal and assist were the difference. Kent State is one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference and winning at their place says a lot about our team's performance."

For the match, the Bulls held the 17-16 advantage in shots including the 11-8 edge in shots on goal. Leading the way offensively for UB was Roberts who finished with a season-high five shots while Carrero had three and Julia Benati finished with two. The backline of the Bulls, Jackie Hall, Sophie Therien, Kristin Markiewicz and Courtney Mann got back on track as a unit on Friday to preserve the cleansheet.

In the battle of the keepers, Dougall finished with a career-high eight saves while Senn made eight saves in the loss. Dougall has now appeared in seven matches in her young career, recording five shutouts and combining on a sixth shutout for UB.

OXFORD, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University soccer team brought its winning ways from non-conference action into Mid-American Conference play with a 2-0 victory over Miami University Friday afternoon, Sept. 26. The Eagles (5-2-1, 1-0-0 MAC) used a pair of goals in the final minute of both halves, while shutting out the RedHawks (6-2-0, 0-1-0 MAC) on the other side of the field, to pick up a win.

The victory is the third in a row for EMU as well as increasing the team's unbeaten streak to four games. Eastern also snaps Miami's four-game winning streak and is also the first team to keep the RedHawks off the scoreboard in 2014. Miami entered the game with a top-25 RPI of 21st in the nation.

Ellie Tillar scored the game's first goal right at the end of the first half, using a corner kick from Chelsie Oddan and a pass from Emily Dzik to find the back of the net. Angela Vultaggio scored her fifth goal of the season on a counter attack with 16 seconds to go as she and Bianca Rossi took advantage of a two-on-one opportunity. In goal, Megan McCabe (5-1-1) tied her season high by making nine saves for her fourth shutout of the season.

Miami pressured EMU throughout the contest, taking 15 shots compared to just nine for the Green and White. However, the EMU backline held strong for 90 minutes to pitch another shutout against a tough MU team. Miami's Vic Maniaci (1-2-0) stopped five of the Eagles' seven shots.

Shots were flying throughout the first half as both teams were aggressive in hopes of putting the first mark on the scoreboard. Nonetheless, the game remained tied through the first 44 minutes, and it looked as if it would be a scoreless draw going into halftime.

As the seconds ticked down at the end of the first half, the Eagles put together a successful set piece to find the goal. Oddan sent a corner kick into the box where Dzik found her teammate Tillar. The redshirt-sophomore took the ball in front of the keeper and blasted it into the back of the net to give Eastern the 1-0 lead as the half came to a close. The score marked Tillar's second goal in as many games as well as the second of her career after scoring against Illinois-Chicago on Sunday, Sept. 21.

With the late first half goal, EMU certainly had momentum coming out of the break. Conversely, the RedHawks looked to even the score with a game-tying goal. Despite shot after shot going her direction, McCabe stood tall and prevented Miami from finding any openings. She made five saves in the second half, including three in the final eight minutes to preserve the victory and the shutout.

With time running out, MU made one last effort at knotting the contest at one goal apiece. Courtney Zanotti fired a shot on goal, but McCabe made the save with just 36 seconds left. The stop started a counterattack for the Green and White as Rossi and Vultaggio worked the ball down the field with just one defender in between the pair and the goal. Rossi dished off to her teammate, and Vultaggio placed the ball past the keeper to give EMU the 2-0 lead with just 16 seconds remaining. The insurance goal locked up the game as the Eagles came away with a victory in the first conference game of the season.

After a six-game road trip that covered 3,171 miles over a 35-day period, the Eagles return home to the friendly pitch of Scicluna Field. EMU hosts Ball State University for a Sunday afternoon contest, Sept. 28. First touch is set for 1 p.m., and the first 50 students in attendance will receive free food courtesy of Jimmy John's.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Two incredible goals from Northern Illinois University freshman forward Lauren Gierman propelled the Huskie women's soccer team to victory in its Mid-American Conference opener on Friday night as NIU emerged victorious in overtime, 2-1.

"I am very pleased with the team. Everyone played unbelievably hard and stayed within the system," NIU head coach John Ross said. "Lauren scored the type of goals we know she can, and it was huge to get three points on the road."

NIU won in the state of Michigan for the first time since Nov. 1, 2007 - a 1-0 victory at Western Michigan. It was also snapped a 15-match winless streak on the road for NIU stretching back to a 2-1 win at Toledo on Oct. 25, 2012.

Gierman (Prospect Heights, Ill./John Hersey) gave the Huskies (3-6-0, 1-0-0 MAC) a perfect start, scoring in the 12th minute with a stunning strike into the top left corner from 25 yards out after receiving a pass from junior midfielder Emily Nulty (Omaha, Neb./Marian).

An organized NIU defense held that advantage until the 36th minute when Central Michigan (2-6-1, 0-1-0 MAC) pounced on a loose ball after a looping cross deflected right into the path of an unmarked Kaelyn Korte, who headed in the equalizer.

The entertaining and free flowing first half finished even at 1-1.

The match tightened up significantly in the second half, settling into a pattern of Central Michigan winning the possession battle while NIU looked dangerous on the counterattack.

NIU freshman goalkeeper Amy Annala (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) made two of her eight saves in the final minute of the game, forcing the first overtime game of the season for the Huskies.

ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio University women's soccer team took down Akron 3-1 Friday afternoon at Chessa Field in its Mid-American Conference Opener.

Ohio (4-5-0, 1-0 MAC) scored early off of an Akron (4-4-1, 0-1) own goal in the sixth minute, giving the Bobcats an early 1-0 lead

Akron then answered back with an equalizer from senior Lani Smith with an assist from Hannah Werth in the 14th minute in the first half.

The `Cats struck again to take the lead back in the 16th minute off of a corner kick from senior Tonya Frasik (Lebanon, Ohio) as senior Annie Beard (Mason, Ohio) found the back of the net for her second goal of the season.

The `Cats struck again to take a 3-1 advantage in the 44th minute with a goal by freshman Allie Curry (Fairfield, Ohio) from the right side, over the goalie into the left corner, for the second goal of the season.

Ohio kept control of the game in a scoreless second half as they added ten more shots and four more corner kicks to keep the pressure on.

Senior Liz Finley (Mason, Ohio) finished with a game high five shots, while Curry finished with three shots on goal.

Bobcats finished with 10 shots on goal and 18 total shots, outshooting the Zips 18-11.

Senior Nicole Amari (Vernon Hills, Ill.) finished with four saves.

The Bobcats return home to take on Buffalo Sunday, September 28th at 1 p.m. at Chessa Field.

TOLEDO, Ohio -- The Western Michigan women's soccer team started off Mid-American Conference play with a tough 2-0 road win at the University of Toledo on Friday.

The Broncos (7-2-0, 1-0-0 MAC) picked up a pair of second-half goals from Gina Maddi and Rachel Chaney to secure the win. Junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Collin made three saves to earn WMU's seventh shutout of the season.

"It was a very tough game today," said head coach Nate Norman. "I thought Toledo was very good and made the game extremely difficult. I'm happy we were able to get a couple of goals and come out with the win against a very good team. This was good way to open up MAC play today for us."

After a first half that saw WMU outshoot UT 6-2, the Broncos broke through in the 65th minute when Maddi had a corner kick from Diana Dedvukaj fall to her feet. The junior defender punched in in from five yards out for her second goal of the season.

Western Michigan extended its lead to 2-0 in the 83rd minute. Chaney picked up a pass from Kylie Nylen and cut into the top of the 18-yard box before slotting the ball into the far corner of the net for her second goal of the season.

WMU held the Rockets to just six shots total and only allowing three to be placed on net. The Broncos fired off 12 total shots, landing five on goal.

Western Michigan continues MAC play on Sunday at Central Michigan at 2 p.m.