Mid-American Conference

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Toledo women's soccer team scored the opening goal just 2:28 into the match and posted a shutout en route to a 2-0 win over Cleveland State on a chilly Friday night at Krenzler Field.

Toledo (2-3-1) jumped out to an early lead on sophomore Kelsey Kraft's first goal of the season. Senior Sophie Pohl raced down the right side and fired a shot that deflected off the Cleveland State goalkeeper. Kraft was in the perfect position to knock in the rebound to put UT ahead 1-0 in the third minute.

The Rockets added to their lead in the 24th minute on a goal-scoring connection between seniors Chiara Paradiso and Isa Echeverri. Paradiso delivered a through ball to Echeverri behind the defense and Echeverri finished the play, beating the keeper to the far post.

Cleveland State (3-5-0) was led offensively by McKenna Vento who took three shots in the contest. 

Toledo freshman Madison Perrin made four saves in goal to post her third-career shutout, while Jamie Daniels stopped three shots from CSU.

Cleveland State took four corner kicks and 11 shots. Toledo countered with nine attempts on the attack.

The women's soccer team will host Notre Dame on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 1:05 p.m. at Scott Park.

YPSILANTI, Mich. - In its first shut-out of the season, the Eastern Michigan University women's soccer team locked up a win at home Friday night, Sept 8, against Youngstown State University. The Eagles' (2-3-1) game-winning goal came off of the foot of sophomore Nicole Remedios (Ajax, Ontario / Archbishop Dennis O'Connor) in the 81st-minute, her first goal of the season and the second of her career.

The Eagles fired off 18 shots, seven of which were on goal, while holding the Penguins to just six. Additionally, the Green and White's defense held Youngstown without a shot in the final 23 minutes of play.

In goal, junior Kaylin Williams (Kansas City, Mo. / Winnetonka), had her eighth clean sheet of her career with three saves.

The Green and White controlled the pace over the first 45 minutes.  Outshooting the Penguins 8-2, McNeill, junior Peyton Davis (North Ridgeville, Ohio / Holy Name), Remedios, freshman Alia Frederick (Linden, Mich. / Linden), redshirt junior Kristin Nason (Brooklin, Ontario / Donald A. Wilson), and sophomore Maggie McCullough (London, Ontario / Oakridge Secondary) all got their foot on the ball in an attempt to score.

Coming out of a 0-0 tie at halftime, freshman Maddie Olson (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville) took charge of the offense, rattling off a shot in the first two minutes that flew high. Both sides traded shots over the next few minutes, before sophomore Sabrina McNeill (Whitby, Ontario / Donald A. Wilson) took a corner kick with nine minutes remaining in regulation. McNeill's cross went into a herd of players where freshman Parys Kerr (Whitby, Ontario / Pickering) gained control of the ball and passed to Remedios, who beat the goalie nearside. Kerr's helper gave the freshman forward the first point of her career. 

Eastern Michigan remains at Scicluna Field to take on Oakland University, Sunday, Sept. 10. Kickoff between EMU and OU is slated for 1 p.m.

DEKALB – The NIU women's soccer team (3-2-1) fell to UW-Milwaukee (6-0-1) by a final score of 2-0 Friday night at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex. The Panthers scored a goal in each half while controlling a lot of the play offensively throughout the match.
 
Milwaukee's Anna Smalley scored both of the goals in the match on crosses into the box, one volleyed into the net in the 41st minute and the other headed in in the 66th minute. Other than those two goals, the Huskies held the Panthers to eight total shots and only three shots on goal but Milwaukee had possession of the ball for a majority of the game.
 
NIU, once again, had 20 players enter the game for the second-straight game with freshmen Haley Hoppe (Austin, Texas/Rouse) and Amanda Czerniak (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) getting the most minutes off the bench and each recording a shot. Coach Ross saw this game as potentially for players to prove themselves in a high-pressure situation.

The Huskies will have a week until their next game as they close out their non-conference schedule next Friday against Northern Iowa at home. They will then begin their MAC schedule on Sept. 22 when they go on the road to face Akron.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For large stretches on Friday night, the Miami soccer team held the upper hand, but a late Evansville goal sent the RedHawks to a 1-0 setback against the Purple Aces.

UE (3-4) struck in the 72nd minute of play to turn the tide and eventually blank MU (0-6).

Both teams spent the early stages of the contest feeling each other out in the early stages with no shots being attempted until the 18th minute of play. That try came from Katie Alexander and sailed high of the target.

Miami placed two of its three first half shots on goal, but Michaela Till made a pair of saves to keep the Red and White at bay. After trailing 3-1 in shots 30 minutes in, Evansville attempted the final four shots of the half, though only one was on target and that was negated by Patricia Koutoulas as the teams remained deadlocked 0-0 at halftime.

A corner kick gave the RedHawks a chance early in the second half as Amy Malone’s service found Bianca Medancic for a shot that went wide of the frame in the 50th minute of play. Malone served another corner cleanly to Alexander’s head, but the attempt went high in the 54th minute. Later, another Malone corner kick serve worked its way to Jenny Barrfor a try that Till saved in the 59th minute.

Play was favoring the Red and White for large portions of the second half with shots at one point sitting 6-3 in Miami’s favor in the late stages of the contest. MU had nothing to show for it up to that point and in the 72nd minute, it was UE that found the back of the net as Sara Osinski scored from just inside the box at the top right corner to make it 1-0 with 18:51 remaining in regulation.

Osinski nearly put the Purple Aces up a pair five minutes later, but the bid for her second goal clanged off the crossbar and kept the RedHawks in it. A late corner kick gave MU some life, but the ensuing shot got blocked. In the waning seconds, Bianca Medancic got off one more attempt, but her shot sailed high with 29 seconds remaining to allow Evansville to hold on for the victory.

Shot attempts slightly favored Miami (12-11) on the night, though the Red and White got six corner kicks while allowing the Purple Aces to try just one. Despite the 23 combined shot attempts, neither keeper was particularly busy making saves as Koutoulas made one stop while Till finished with three saves.

Miami wraps up non-conference play on Sept. 17 when it travels to Illinois State. Opening kick is at 2 p.m. ET.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Ball State soccer team held a 12-3 advantage in shots on goal Friday night but could not find the back of the net in a 1-0 loss at IUPUI.
 
Both teams were scoreless until the 70th minute when IUPUI's Miranda Ricks worked a give-and-go with teammate Valentine Pursey for the night's only goal at Carroll Stadium.
 
Ball State (1-5-1) ramped up its attack even more after falling behind. The Cardinals had a serious chance to even the score with a corner kick in the 88th minute, but IUPUI (4-3-0) turned away looks from Sam Mattlin and Paula Guerrero, including a diving stop by keeper Sophia Lipka to save Guerrero's shot.
 
Lipka finished the evening with 12 saves to record the shutout. She made another diving stop to keep an Amanda Shaw shot out of the net earlier in the second half. Shaw, who led the Cardinals with five shots, also had one deflect off the post in the first half.
 
The Cardinals also had an opportunity late in the game after a string of passes from Nicky Potts to Emily Scott to Allison Abbe. But Lipka denied Abbe's look, as well.
 
Ball State finished with an 18-9 advantage in overall shots and attempted five corner kicks on the night to IUPUI's one.
 
The Cardinals will be off until returning to the Briner Sports Complex next Friday to host Western Illinois at 5 p.m. The game will serve as the team's Senior Night.

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's soccer team (1-4-0, 0-0-0 MAC) dropped a heartbreaker in overtime on Friday night at UB Stadium to the visiting Cornell Big Red by the score of 2-1. Freshman Kaitlyn Walsh netted her first career goal and notched three shots in the loss for the Bulls.

More coming soon...

AKRON, Ohio – The Akron women's soccer team went toe-to-toe with the reigning Atlantic-10 champions, Dayton, for a full 90 minutes but fell just short of a result falling, 3-2, on Friday night at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet field.
 
Akron took the offensive advantage in the match by outshooting the Flyers, 13-11, on the night, along with the edge in corner kicks, 5-3.
 
Individually for the Zips, Ashley Amato (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in her second game back on the year and first start of the season paced the Akron attack with five shots, including a pair of goals in the 35th and 47th minutes. Junior's Rachel Baughman (Alliance, Ohio) and Erica Schrader(Blacklick, Ohio) each tallied three shots, while junior Kiana Zuk (Windsor, Ontario), and freshmen Lauren Lambert (Stoutsville, Ohio) and Eliese LaCourt (Rockford, Mich.) posted one shot each, respectively.
 
In all 90 minutes of action, freshman Amani Jiu (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made five saves and surrendered three goals. The Akron keeper has now made 30 saves on the year and owns a 1.82 goals against average.
 
The Flyers jumped out to an early lead 2-0 lead with goals in the 8' and 35' of the match, but the Zips would not go away quietly.
 
Two minutes following Dayton's second goal, Amato put Akron on the board with her first goal of the season at the 35:10 mark of the first half. The Flyers were called for a foul just passed the midfield line resulting in a free kick for the Zips. Freshman Ryley Watt (Irwin, Pa.) stepped to the ball for Akron to put the ball back in play, and she did just that. Watt sent a beautiful ball high into the air that landed inside the box at the feet of Amato. The sophomore corralled the ball, gained space and ripped a shot that landed in the back of the net. Watt collected her first career assist off her pass to Amato.
 
With the momentum shifting in the favor of the Zips to close out the first half, Akron continued to be aggressive after the first whistle of the second half. In the 48' of the contest, the Zips knotted up the game at two with Amato's second goal of the game. Amato and freshman Ally Brown (Batavia, Ohio) worked perfectly together on a give-and-go between multiple Flyer defenders. Brown snuck a pass away to Amato who found space to get a shot off that beat the keeper. Brown's pass to set up the Akron goal earned her first collegiate assist.
 
Dayton went on to claim the lead back in the 60' of the game courtesy of Alexis Kiehl's second score of the game.
Akron nearly evened up the match in the final 10 minutes with a spectacular attempt on goal by LaCourt, but her shot was turned away by an impressive diving stop to the upper right corner of the goal to deny the Zips. Schrader also had a look at the net in the final minutes of play but her shot would land wide of the net.
 
Despite a valiant effort by Akron, the contested resulted in favor of the Flyers.
 
The Zips return to the field on Friday, Sept. 15, for their final non-conference match of the 2017 season against Duquesne. First touch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The Ohio soccer team (3-3-0) fell 1-0 to Marshall (2-4-0) after a closely contested 90 minute bout at Hoops Family Field in Huntington, W.Va. on Friday, Sept. 8.

Ohio opened the match with a strong defensive presence, forcing the Thundering Herd to play outside. Marshall came out hard, putting bodies down field early and forcing the backline of Katie McCurley(Lake Zurich, Ill.) , Rianna Reese (Liberty Township, Ohio) and Victoria Breeden (Hudson, Ohio) to hold a strong line. Despite the early press, goalkeeper Sydney Malham was able to stop four shots in the first half hour and keep the score 0-0.
Marshall would open scoring in the 33rd minute off a goal from Gabby Powers. Powers received the ball off a low tap from Ashley Seltzer and sent it to the upper 90 to beat Malham.

Ohio attempted to the force an equalizer before halftime came but could only send two shots in before the whistle blew. At halftime, Ohio sat at seven shots, three SOG and five saves to Marshall's 10 shots, six SOG and three saves. Top offensive threat through the first was Allie Curry (Fairfield, Ohio) who recorded two shots, one on goal.

The Bobcats came out strong in the second half, pushing hard into the Thundering Herd's defense. 

Hannah Jaggers (Taylorsville, Ky.) registered Ohio's first shot in the second half in the 47th minute but was denied by Marshall's Megan Bonelli. Play continued to go back and forth for the next 10 minutes with Paige Knorr (Cincinnati, Ohio), Jaggers and Courtney Daugerdas (Libertyville, Ill.) sending in attempts but none of them could find the back of the net.

Ohio increased their tempo midway through the second half, sending bodies into the the box but Marshall's defense never gave an opening. Likewise, the Thundering Herd sent in shot after shot in an attempt to cushion their lead but could never work through Ohio's backline defenders.

The Bobcats' strongest attempt in the half came from a 74th minute header off Celeste Fushimi-Karns (Dublin, Ohio). Fushimi-Karns sent a header on frame that looked promising but Bonelli laid out and got a touch on the ball, allowing her defense to clear the threat away.

Ohio continued to press hard, with Daugerdas receiving a yellow card in the 85th after colliding with Bonelli while going up for a high cross but could never produce a goal. Time eventually ran out, giving Marshall the 1-0 victory. Final statline for Ohio was 14 shots, six shots on goal and five saves to Marshall's 16 shots, six shots on goal and six saves.

The Bobcats return on action on Sunday, Sept. 10 when the team hosts the Kentucky Wildcats at 2 p.m. at Chessa Field.