Sunday's Women's Soccer Results
Kent State 3, Akron 0
Eastern Michigan 2, Ball State 1
Miami 2, Bowling Green 0
Buffalo 1, Ohio 0
Northern Illinois 2, Toledo 1
Western Michigan 1, Central Michigan 0
Kent State 3, Akron 0
Box Score
KENT, Ohio- The Kent State women's soccer team defeated the University of Akron 3-0 on senior day at Zoeller Field. The Golden Flashes got two goals from freshman Doni Capehart, while junior Madison Helterbran added one as Kent State improved to 6-3-1 (1-1-0 MAC). With the loss, Akron dropped to 4-5-1 (0-2-1 MAC). The win also gave Kent State the first point of the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge.
The Golden Flashes scored all three goals in the second-half, outshot the Zips 26-2 and outworked Akron for a 9-1 corner kick advantage in a dominating victory.
After the scoreless first-half, Capehart got things rolling for Kent State in the 60th minute. Capehart, flicked in a pass from freshman Kristen Brots past Akron goalkeeper Klaire Adee from 12-yards out. Capehart added to her tally at at the 75:41 mark off of a Golden Flashes corner kick.
Senior Alyssa Meier played in the corner for the Flashes and senior Renee Loya and Jaime Eiben played the ball to Capehart in the center of the box. Capehart then put a shot past Adee from eight yards in front of the goal.
Helterbran capped off the scoring for the Flashes with a strike from 20-yards out in the 80th minute. Helterbran gained possession just outside the top right corner of the 18-yard box, cut left and drove home a shot past a diving Adee.
Kent State's backline of Meier, Briana Bartolone, Mariah Sidwell and Brittany Maisano put in a strong effort and only allowed two shots. Flashes goalkeeper Stephanie Senn was only forced to make one save .
Akron's Adee tallied eight saves in net and received the loss for the Zips to drop to 3-4-1.
Kent State travels to Northern Illinois to face the Huskies on Friday, October 3rd at 7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan 2, Ball State 1
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The first home game in 35 days proved to be a memorable one as the Eastern Michigan University soccer team rallied from one goal down to beat Ball State University, 2-1, in overtime Sunday afternoon, Sept. 28, at Scicluna Field. Senior Bianca Rossi scored both goals for the Eagles (6-2-1, 2-0-0 MAC), including the game-winner just four minutes into overtime to cap off a perfect opening Mid-American Conference weekend for the Green and White.
The match was not only a major victory in Eastern's hopes of defending its MAC regular season title, but it was also a milestone win. The overtime victory over the Cardinals (5-2-2, 1-1-0 MAC) was the program's 100th win at Scicluna Field, improving its record to 100-44-24 over the team's 20-year history. The century mark was also reached by EMU Head Coach Scott Hall, who won his 100th MAC game at the helm of the EMU soccer, becoming just the second coach in conference history to accomplish the feat.
Rossi's scoring performance was the second multi-goal game of her career as she also scored twice against Oakland during the 2012 season. Rossi took seven of EMU's 11 shots throughout the 94 minutes of play, landing four of them on goal.
Senior teammates Chelsie Oddan and Martha Stevens provided the assists on the two EMU goals in the 35th and 94th minutes, respectively. Not to be forgotten, junior goalkeeper Megan McCabe (6-1-0) was fantastic between the posts, making save after save to keep the Eagles in the match. The Arlington Heights, Ill. native completed a strong weekend with seven saves against Ball State. McCabe saw 23 shots from 11 different Cardinals, but only allowed a single goal early in the first half as she constantly sacrificed her body to prevent the ball from finding the back of the net.
Ball State out-shot the Eagles 23-11, including 8-4 in attempts on goal. Jasmine Moses scored the Cardinals' lone goal, putting her team up in the seventh minute of the contest. BSU took seven corner kicks, while not allowing Eastern to earn any corner set pieces. In goal, Brooke Dennis (5-2-2) stopped two-of-four shots sent her direction, all by Rossi.
The visitors struck first as Moses found the back of the net just seven minutes into the game. Sprinting down the left side of the pitch, Gabby Feldman snuck a cross into the box. Trying to prevent a quality scoring opportunity, McCabe reached out to grab the ball, but it deflected off her fingers. With the ball remaining in the danger zone, it found the feet of Moses who put the ball in the goal for the early 1-0 lead.
Falling behind was unfamiliar territory for the Green and White as the Eagles failed to score the game's first goal for just the second time this season. However, EMU remained calm, cool and collected behind a solid defense, using patience to find its best scoring chance. That opportunity finally came in the 35th minute as Oddan placed the ball in the box for her teammate Rossi. Making a couple of swift moves with her feet, the senior bought enough time to see an opening in the net before blasting a strike into the upper right corner of the goal to tie the game. Looking to re-claim the lead before halftime, the Cardinals shot two attempts on target, but both found the hands of McCabe as the two MAC teams went into the break at a 1-1 standstill.
BSU controlled the majority of the first half, holding a 14-5 advantage in shots over the EMU. McCabe made four first half saves, and the only Eastern shot on goal during the first 45 minutes found the back of the net.
Neither team scored in the second half, but there were multiple chances as Ball State took seven shots compared to five by Eastern Michigan. Each goalkeeper made two saves, including a diving stop by McCabe with just 13 minutes remaining in regulation. The EMU keeper also got her hand on a potential goal in the 75th minute, knocking the ball out of play and keeping the game knotted at one goal apiece after 90 minutes.
The game nearly ended 18 seconds into overtime as Elaina Musleh fired a shot at the corner of the goal; however, like she did all afternoon, McCabe made a full-extension save to keep the Cardinals from rejoicing a victory. Three minutes later, after another Musleh shot missed wide, McCabe used a goal kick to push the ball up the field. The big boot started an EMU attack as Stevens and Rossi quickly found themselves in a two-on-one situation. Controlling the ball down the center of the field, Stevens passed to Rossi on her right. While Dennis came off her line to increase the angle difficulty, Rossi banged a strike past the BSU keeper for the golden goal, securing the EMU victory as her teammates ran onto the field to join the celebration.
Following the 2-0-0 start to defending the MAC regular season crown, the Eagles will hit the road once again for another pair of conference games. First, EMU heads to the University of Akron to face the Zips, Oct. 3, in a Friday night matchup. The contest is set to begin at 7 p.m. under the lights of Cub Cadet Field. Ending the weekend, Eastern will square off against the Bulls of the University at Buffalo, Oct. 5, at noon.
Miami 2, Bowling Green 0
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – Maggie Scott and Haley Walter both scored in the first half and the Miami soccer team outshot Bowling Green 25-2 in a 2-0 win on Sunday. The victory moves the RedHawks to 7-2 overall and 1-1 in Mid-American Conference play.
The Red and White got their offense on track quickly as Maggie Scott headed home Kelsey Dinges’ corner kick in the 15th minute of play to put them up 1-0. Miami struck again in the 24th minute when Haley Walter took Rachel Marble’s feed just past midfield, drove wide to the right side of the attacking box and launched a beautiful shot that caught the upper 90 in the far side to make it a 2-0 contest. That goal capped the scoring in a dominant first half by the RedHawks, one where they outshot the Falcons 13-1 and had a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks.
Miami wasn’t quite as sharp in its execution, but still dominated possession in the second half. The RedHawks outshot the Falcons by a 12-1 margin and saw their bench create a number of quality opportunities. One player who was particularly active was Chloe Knue, who had three good opportunities in the final minutes. She drove down the right wing and blasted a shot labeled for the upper 90 that Lauren Cadel turned away in the 85th minute, got another look down the left side and was stopped by Cadel again in the 87th minute and had the ball in the same spot for a shot that the defense blocked seconds later.
Bowling Green’s lone shot of the second half was dangerous, as the ball got worked to Kylie Briem with an open net in the closing seconds. However, her attempt sailed over the net as time expired, preserving Miami’s shutout.
Vic Maniaci made her second-straight start in net and picked up her first shutout of the season for the Red and White. Her counterpart, Cadel, stopped nine of the 11 shots she faced.
In addition to the 25-2 shot advantage, Miami also took seven corner kicks while not allowing Bowling Green to take a single corner kick. Dinges fired eight of the Red and White’s 25 shots.
Miami is back in action on Friday when it hosts Toledo at 4 p.m.
Buffalo 1, Ohio 0
Box Score
ATHENS, OH – Senior forward Katie Roberts scored the game-winning goal with 3:05 to play in the second overtime to give the University at Buffalo women's soccer team a 1-0 victory at Ohio on Sunday afternoon. The Bulls improve to 6-2-1 on the season and 2-0 in Mid-American Conference action. The 2-0 conference start is the first for the Bulls since the 2001 season.
"It's hard to win on Sunday's," said head coach Shawn Burke. "It's a testament to the players and their commitment to competing. Ohio put us under tremendous pressure and our backline of Jackie Hall and Sophie Therien once again stood tall. They were lights out on defensive set pieces to relieve Ohio's attack."
Roberts collected her second game-winning marker in as many games in the 108th minute of play as she found herself some room in the box, spun around and fired home the ball. Roberts now leads the team with four goals and 10 points as she has recorded three game-winning tallies for the Bulls.
The first half of play was very evenly played as both teams recorded four shots through 45 minutes. However, the second half was dominated by the Bulls as they held the 6-2 edge in shots during the next 45 minutes. Alex Lambert opened up the second half with a pair of shots on goal for UB while Roberts and Celina Carrero each saw a shot turned away by Nicole Amari.
The first overtime period was a back-and-forth affair as the Bobcats held the slim 2-1 advantage in shots. The final overtime period was controlled by the Bulls and they were rewarded with the Roberts marker in the 108th minute of action.
Defensively, the backline of Sophie Therien, Jackie Hall, Angel Hart and Kristin Markiewicz had another solid game in the team's seventh shutout of the season through just nine games. UB has now allowed five or fewer shots on goal in five of nine games.
For the game, the Bulls held the 13-9 advantage in shots while Ohio had the 8-4 edge in corner kicks. Roberts led the way offensively as she had five shots while Lambert had a pair of shots on goal off the bench and Julia Benati also had two shots.
Freshman goalkeeper Laura Dougall continues to produce at a high level, making four saves and recording her sixth shutout of the season in her seventh win. Her sixth shutout currently ranks her fourth in program history for shutouts in a season. Dougall and the UB defense now has a shutout streak of 204:52 minutes, after setting the program record for shutout streak earlier in the season.
Following the match, Lambert was awarded the "Player of the Match" award by the UB coaching staff after a great effort off the bench as she recorded two shots on goal and saw 67 minutes of action.
"Freshman Alex Lambert stepped up in a huge way today and we leaned on her for heavy minutes which earned her player of the game honors," stated Burke.
Northern Illinois 2, Toledo 1
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University women’s soccer team enjoyed its 2-1 overtime victory against Central Michigan on Friday so much that the Huskies decided to do it again on Sunday afternoon versus Toledo.
A penalty kick from senior midfielder Allie McBride (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) in the second period of overtime lifted NIU (4-6-0, 2-0-0 MAC) to another thrilling 2-1 win, this time over the Rockets (3-6-1, 0-2-0 MAC).
NIU improved to 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play for the first time since 1998, the last time the Huskies won the MAC regular season.
“We played unbelievably well today, showing so much fight and determination,” NIU head coach John Ross said after the game. “Our fitness and physicality paid off, and we kept battling and took advantage of our opportunities to finish the game.”
The Huskies sit at the top of the conference standings in a tie for first place, and Ross couldn’t be happier with the start to MAC play his team has made.
“It feels nice. Our girls definitely deserve this,” he said. “They put in so much hard work, and I’m really happy to see them have this success this weekend.”
Despite playing their second game in three days, NIU controlled much of the first-half action on what was a sunny Sunday afternoon in Toledo, pressing the Rockets well and creating numerous turnovers. Friday’s two-goal hero Lauren Gierman almost scored another stunning strike, but her effort sailed just over in the 13th minute.
However, Toledo came out rockets blazing in the second half, earning numerous corners and forcing NIU freshman goalkeeper Amy Annala (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) into a few nice saves.
The pressure eventually paid off as the Rockets took the lead in the 52nd minute when Alexis Tice boomed a powerful header into the net from a corner kick.
NIU held off another wave of Rocket attacks – largely thanks to Annala, who finished with a career-high tying 11 saves – and then the Huskies mounted a response in what became a game of increasing physicality.
After having a penalty appeal turned down when Sammy O’Brien (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) appeared to be fouled in the box, the Huskies were rewarded with a deserved equalizer.
Allie Ingham (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) received a throw-in on the right wing, dribbled around her defender and whipped in a great cross to the front post. There was Haley Cummings (Spring, Texas/Home School), leaping over a Rocket to meet the cross with her head and tie the game in the 75th minute with her first career NIU goal.
With parity restored, the Huskies held off a late Toledo siege while almost winning the game when Emily Nulty (Omaha, Neb./Marian) forced a great stop from the Rocket goalkeeper with a rasping strike in the 89th minute, resulting in a second consecutive overtime match for NIU.
McBride nearly won the match in the first overtime period, hammering a shot from 25 yards out off the right post and coming inches away from another spectacular NIU winning goal.
But the senior wouldn’t be denied, converting a penalty kick after Nicole Gobbo (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) was fouled in the box just seconds into the second extra session.
“That was awesome!” McBride said after the victory. “We worked our butts off the whole game, so to get that result against a good, physical team was great. And what a way to start the conference season. We’re 2-0 and heading back home now. That momentum is going to be awesome.”
NIU returns home for three consecutive MAC home games, including two next weekend at the NIU Soccer Complex: on Friday night against Kent State at 7 p.m. and Sunday afternoon against Ohio at 1 p.m.
Western Michigan 1, Central Michigan 0
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Western Michigan women's soccer team improved to 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play after defeating MAC West rivals Central Michigan, 1-0, on the road on Sunday afternoon.
Aubrey Sudomier knocked in the ball after a rebound on a shot by Nicole Hatcliffe to put the Broncos up 1-0 in the 27th minute and the WMU (8-2-0, 2-0-0 MAC) defense locked the Chippewas down to complete the shutout.
Stephanie Heber needed to make just two saves between the sticks to earn her fifth shutout of the season and the team's eighth. The Broncos outshot CMU 19-8 on the day, including holding them to just two total shots in the first half.
"Overall I am very happy with our performance and with the win," said head coach Nate Norman. "CMU is a good team and I thought they were very well organized and well coached. They were difficult to break down. I thought overall we created some quality chances on the attacking end, but also did a good job defending a talented attacking team in Central Michigan."
Along with Sudomier's second of the season, the senior forward led WMU in shots with four on the day. Diana Dedvukaj, Rachel Chaney and Irene Young also each had three.
Western Michigan hosts Ohio on Friday at 4 p.m. for it's MAC home-opener. Kent State visits the WMU Soccer Complex on Sunday at 1 p.m. for "Starving Student Day."
