Thursday's MAC Women's Soccer Results
Akron 1, Youngstown State 0
Kentucky 3, Ball State 0
Michigan State 2, Bowling Green 0
Buffalo 4, Binghamton 1
Morehead State 1, Central Michigan 0
Eastern Michigan 2, Western Illinois 2
Kent State 1, Cleveland State 1
Miami 0, Austin Peay 0
Northern Illinois 2, Eastern Kentucky 1
Duquesne 2, Ohio 1
Toledo 2, Dayton 2
Butler 5, Western Michigan 0
 
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments

Akron 1, Youngstown State 0
Boxscore
AKRON, Ohio- The Akron women's soccer team opened its 2022 campaign on Thursday evening at FirstEnergy Stadium and came out with a 1-0 victory over Youngstown State to kick off the season.
 
The Zips  fired off seven shots on the evening, including a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. Akron had five players record a shot with sophomore Caitlin Bruni (Canal Fulton, Ohio) and sophomore Morgan Pentz (Broadview Heights, Ohio) leading the Zips' attack with two shots each.
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Penelope Cuirinier (Mionnay, France) completed the shutout victory recording one save.
 
Bruni found the back of the net at the 24:48 mark of the game after she scored an unassisted goal when her corner kick bounced off a Youngstown State defender and she booted the ball into the net.
YSU had five first half shots, but none on goal. The Penguins only shot on target came in the second half at the 48 minute mark.

The Zips will hit the road as Akron travels to Marshall on Sunday, Aug. 21 for a 1 p.m. match. Fans can tune in to ESPN+ to catch the game action and follow live stats on GoZips.com.


Buffalo 4, Binghamton 1
Boxscore
BUFFALO, NY – Sophomore forward Jasmine Guerber made an immediate impact in her first game as a Bull, scoring a pair of goals to lead the University at Buffalo women's soccer team to a 4-1 win over Binghamton in the season opener on Thursday night at UB Stadium.

While the offense got most of the attention, it was fifth year goalkeeper Emily Kelly who had a historic night as she recorded the 40^th win of her career, making her the winningest goalkeeper in program history.

The Bulls withstood an early offensive attack from the Bearcats before responding with a pair of good looks as freshman Katie Krohn had a great look from inside the box in the 20^th minute, but Nicole Scott made a great save. Later, Gerber and Annie Judasz got into the mix in the 24^th and 35^th minutes, respectively, but Scott was there to thwart the attack.

The Bearcats capitalized in the 39^th minute as Peyton Gilmore created space and fired a shot into the bottom right corner of the net to give Binghamton a 1-0 lead at the half.

UB came out aggressive to start the second half as freshman Ellie Simmons took a free kick in the 47^th minute and played a great ball into the box where Payton Robertson settled it and ripped a shot into the back of the net to tie the game at one.

Less than 10 minutes later, Hannah Callaghan played a ball up field to Simmons who recorded her first career assist on a great ball to Guerber who finished a textbook set for the Bulls to give them a 2-1 lead.

Buffalo continued to move the ball well in the 79^th minute as Robertson fed Simmons who found Guerber with a great ball and she banged it home to put the Bulls up 3-1 but they would not be done as freshman Sarah Woods got onto the scoresheet for the first time in career, hitting a streaking Arianna Zumpano who scored in transition to give UB a 4-1 lead in the 85^th minute and that would be more than enough to secure the victory.

UB had a 12-3 advantage in the shots on goal category while also maintaining a 4-1 edge in corner kick opportunities. Kelly finished with two saves while the Bearcats' goalies combined for eight saves. Guerber was named Player of the Game by the UB coaches for her fantastic performance on the night.

The Bulls return to action on Sunday as they host Big 4 foe Niagara at 7pm.
 

Eastern Michigan 2, Western Illinois 2
Boxscore
BRIGHTON, Mich. – The Eastern Michigan University soccer team fought valiantly to record a season-opening, 2-2, draw with the Western Illinois University Leathernecks today, Aug. 18, at the Legacy Center Sports Complex in Brighton, Mich.
 
The Eagles (0-0-1, 0-0-0 MAC) held a 2-1 lead at halftime before the Leathernecks (0-0-1, 0-0-0 Summit) evened the ledger in the second half.
 
Sophomore Vittoria Greco (Brooklin, Ontario-Brooklin) was outstanding for the Green and White, notching the team's first goal of the season and adding the Eagles' only assist on the evening.
 
The Eagles started the season in style, using just 1:31 off the clock to score the season's first goal and take an early 1-0 advantage. The kick came off the foot of Greco, who tallied her first career goal. Despite the deficit, Western Illinois fought right back, knotting things at one apiece with just seven minutes gone by.
 
Eastern regained the lead at the 15:19 mark in the first half as Maddie O'Farrell (Haslett, Mich.-Lansing Catholic) fired from distance with her shot bounding through the keepers hands and eventually rolling over the goal line for her first career score, but ultimately relinquished its advantage when the visiting team netted a goal, the only of the second half, with 4:32 off the clock in the second stanza of action.
 
Despite numerous late scoring pushes from both squads, the game ended in a 2-2 tie.

The Eagles return to action Sunday, Aug. 21, when they hit the road for a non-conference affair with the RedBirds of Illinois State University. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT at Adelaide Street Field in Normal, Ill. 


Kent State 1, Cleveland State 1
Boxscore
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State women's soccer team opened the 2022 season Thursday night with a physical match against Cleveland State at Dix Stadium, ending in a 1-1 draw.

From the get-go, the two teams jostled with one another all across the pitch, resulting in two yellow cards in the first 20 minutes. 

In the 26th minute, the Golden Flashes set up a corner kick from the near corner. Graduate senior Tianna Harris attempted a shot off the corner, but it was knocked aside by the Vikings defense. The ball found its way to the right foot of junior Callie Cunningham, who netted the first goal of the game and gave Kent State the lead going into the half.

Cleveland State evened the score shortly after halftime, scoring their lone goal of the night in the 51st minute. Both teams pushed to find the back of the net one more time to break the deadlock, but neither team could break the other's defense. 

Both teams were fairly even in terms of shots, with the Vikings attempting 10 and the Flashes 9. Goalkeeper Sarah Melén tallied five saves on the night.
The two teams combined for 25 fouls on the night and seven yellow cards.

The Flashes return to action Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., when they host Oakland at Zoeller Field at Dix Stadium. In their meeting last season, Kent State topped the Golden Grizzlies 3-2 thanks to a game-winning goal off the foot of midfielder Giulia Giovinazzi in the 81^st minute.
 

Miami 0, Austin Peay 0
Boxscore
OXFORD, Ohio – On Thursday afternoon, the Miami University women's soccer team (0-0-1) played Austin Peay State University's women's soccer team (0-0-1) to a 0-0 draw.

Within the first three minutes of the game, sophomore midfielder Makenna Morrison found space in Austin Peay's penalty area, but her right-footed shot was saved. Less than five minutes later, as the RedHawks aimed to win the ball up high, senior midfielder Emily Sexton curled in a shot at goal but the ball came off the crossbar.

Both squads recorded several scoring chances in the second half, but were unable to convert in the scoreless tie. The RedHawks had five attempts at goal in the first six minutes of the second half. Senior Izzie Vaccari recorded her eleventh career shutout.

Miami's next matchup will be a visit to Loyola University Chicago on Sunday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m.


Northern Illinois 2, Eastern Kentucky 1
Boxscore
RICHMOND, Ky. – Goals of either side of halftime from Reegan Kingpavong (Rockford, Ill./Guilford) and Lea Gruennagel (Homburg, Germany/Intergrierte Gesamtschule Contwig) gave the Northern Illinois University women's soccer team a 2-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky on Thursday afternoon (Aug. 18) in the regular season opener. 

Kingpavong opened the scoring just 108 seconds into the contest and, after Eastern Kentucky tied the game, Gruennagel netted the winner in the 62nd minute to give first-year Huskie head coach Michael O'Neill a victory in his debut at NIU. 

It took the Huskies less than two minutes to open the scoring as Kingpavong pounced on a ball inside the six-yard box off a throw to tap in the opening goal of the contest. Jordyn King (Menifee, Calif./Paloma) took the throw which found Kingpavong in the box. Her initial attempt was stopped by Eastern Kentucky goalkeeper Lauren Seedlock but the rebound feel kindly to the feet of the Rockford, Ill., native who tapped home the game's opening goal. 

Eastern Kentucky had its first good look at goal in the 24th minute as Audrey Anderson fired a shot just over the top of the NIU goal. 

Two minutes later, Kingpavong nearly had a second. A Huskie throw-in was flicked on to Kingpavong at the top of the box, but her shot was stopped by Seedlock. 

In the 43rd minute, a shot from distance by Eastern Kentucky's Maddy Lemery went just over the crossbar and two minutes later Gretta Gunn had a chance from near the top of the box that was collected by NIU goalkeeper Deighton Wamer (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) as the Huskies took a 1-0 lead into the interval. 

Three minutes after the break, Claudia Muessig (Paw Paw, Mich./Paw Paw) had the ball on the left wing and fired a ball low across the face of goal but no one was able to redirect it on target. 

The Colonels were level in the 52nd minute on a goal by Myla Sharpless. Off an Eastern Kentucky free kick from near midfield, the initial ball took a deflection and fell right to the feet of Sharpless who turned and tucked a shot inside the post from about 12 yards to pull the hosts level.

Just past the hour mark the Huskies were back in front as Gruennagel gave NIU a 2-1 lead. Abby McHugh (Wauconda, Ill./Wauconda) collected a turnover and played a short pass to Gruennagel who hit it first-time from about 25 yards. The shot hit the underside of the crossbar and went in as NIU regained the advantage.  

"(Eastern Kentucky) swung momentum with the goal in the second half and we responded in the flow of the game," said O'Neill. "That's where the group is a little different this year, a little strong and more resilient. I actually think our best period in the game was after they scored, the next 20 minutes we created a ton of chances and could have had a couple more through great crosses and wide play from (Madison) Looby, Kierah (Meier) and Claudia (Muessig). I'm proud of them."

Celia Lopez had a chance for Eastern Kentucky in the 74th minute as she slipped past a pair of Huskie defenders to give herself space for a shot, but she dragged the effort wide, and in the final minute, Lemery took a shot from just outside the box that went wide as the Huskies opened the season with a victory. 

Wamer made three saves in goal for the Huskies to pick up a victory in her collegiate debut, Seedlock also made three stops for the Colonels. 

NIU will conclude its season-opening road trip on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 21, when the Huskies travel to Indiana State. Game time against the Sycamores is scheduled for 12 p.m. and will be available on ESPN+. 
 

Toledo 2, Dayton 2
Boxscore
DAYTON, Ohio – The Toledo women's soccer team opened its 2022 season with a 2-2 tie at Dayton on Thursday night. First-half goals by redshirt sophomore Sissy Novak and graduate student Ashton Cassel gave Toledo a 2-1 halftime lead, but the Flyers scored the only goal of the second half to earn the tie.

Toledo trailed 1-0 midway through the first half when Novak tied the game off a free kick from midfield, her first collegiate goal since transferring to Toledo last season. Cassel put Toledo ahead 2-1 with 28 seconds left in the first half. Toledo held the lead until the 73-minute mark when Dayton's Noel Blair's free kick was deflected past Rocket goalkeeper Emma Boutorwick to tie the game at 2-2.

Novak's goal was her first collegiate goal with Toledo and first goal scored for the Rockets this season. Cassel's goal was her first of the season and sixth in her career. Boutorwick stopped 11 shots, a career-high.

The Rockets finish their two-game road trip at Big Ten opponent Illinois on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (CT) before their home-opener at Paul Hotmer Field on Thursday, Aug. 25 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne.