Women's Soccer

WMU Secures Outright Title; 2025 Championship Field Set

Wednesday’s Women’s Soccer Results
Bowling Green 3, UMass 1
Central Michigan 2, Eastern Michigan 0
Akron 3, Toledo 0
Western Michigan 2, Buffalo 0
Ball State 2, Northern Illinois 1
Miami 1, Kent State 0
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments

Bowling Green 3, UMass 1
Box Score
AMHERST, Mass. – The Bowling Green State University women's soccer team scored early in each half on Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 29), and the Falcons went on to a 3-1 win over the University of Massachusetts in Mid-American Conference match action at Rudd Field.

Junior Emma Stransky scored in the eighth minute for the Falcons (9-2-8, 4-1-7 MAC), who will be the sixth seed for the upcoming MAC Tournament. BGSU will face third-seeded Buffalo on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 1) at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus.

Stransky's strike was the earliest goal in a game this season for the Falcons.

BGSU doubled the lead on an own goal just 79 seconds after halftime, and Lexi White put an exclamation point on the decision with a goal in the 71st minute.

The Minutewomen (5-8-4, 3-6-2 MAC) got on the scoreboard on a Caroline Dickson goal with just over 11 minutes left in the match.

BG had advantages of 15-10 in total shots, 7-5 in shots on goal and 9-2 in corner kicks. Payton O'Malley made four saves for the Orange and Brown, while Leah Nisenfeld had five stops for the hosts.

Central Michigan 2, Eastern Michigan 0
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan Soccer took down in-state rival Eastern Michigan, 2-0, at the CMU Soccer Complex Wednesday. The result ended the 2025 season for both programs.

"I'm so happy for our players, they deserve this," Head Coach Jeremy Groves said. "These young ladies, they show up every day to train. They could have mailed it in a long time ago, but that's their character. I think that showed through today."

The Chippewas finally got over the hump after multiple close calls in the Mid-American Conference schedule. A missed penalty at Ball State, late chances against Kent State—both MAC Tournament qualifiers—and a slip late against Toledo left three potential victories as draws.

"There's been other games where it's fine margins. We've been really close all season. So, to get one over the line when it's the last game of the season is positive."

The Eagles were still alive in the MAC Tournament chase as well on Wednesday, a fact well-known in the CMU locker room.

"We were playing for ourselves at this point, but they were playing for a playoff berth. We knew that they were coming here with a lot on the line, so it wasn't going to be a nothing game. We wanted to come in with a chip on our shoulders to make sure we end the season on a high note going into the spring.

"[Eastern Michigan] had a decent season, and I think that shows the frustration that we should have been right there because we just beat a team who was almost in the tournament 2-0. It's a barometer for us of where we should be and not where we are right now."

Freshman Jimena Perez Ayala (Monterrey, Mexico / ASF Monterrey) struck the game-winner in the 63rd minute, junior Jordan Bailey (Huntington Beach, Calif. / Huntington Beach) provided insurance in the 68th. Both scores were serviced by sophomore Ella Betzold (Essexville, Mich. / Garber).

A young roster needs time to gel. With so many newcomers in the fall, the program missed out on having a spring session in 2025 to expedite the process after the previous was derailed due to injury.

"We haven't had a spring season for two years. In your spring season, you get to play different players, you get to figure out formations, you get to figure out what you've got. Unfortunately for us, we haven't had that and with so many new players in the fall, it was almost like we were trying to find ourselves during the season."

Perez Ayala is part of a seven-member freshman class that accounted for over one-third of minutes logged by the Chippewas this season, and led the offense with three goals on the season—all in matches that led to points in the MAC standings. Kylee Weed (Jackson, Mich. / Northwest) led the team with over 1,400 minutes, Sofia Spano (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. / Bloomfield Hills) and Liv Moulton (Manchester, England / Sixth Form) each eclipsed 1,000 as well.

Akron 3, Toledo 0
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron women's soccer team held Toledo scoreless and ran away with a 3-0 shutout win Wednesday (Oct. 29) at home at FirstEnergy Stadium.

How it Happened
Akron started the scoring when sophomore Kaitlyn Rogowski (Hilliard, Ohio) scored her career goal in the 13th minute (12:51), assisted by juniors Rachel Wenzel (Akron, Ohio) and Jordanne Oberhaus (Wadsworth, Ohio).

The Zips tacked on another score on a goal from senior Emma King (Akron, Ohio), her team-leading fourth goal of the season, at the 60:57 mark, assisted by sophomore Eesha Sutharshan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Wenzel.

Akron made it a 3-0 advantage on Oberhaus' 85th-minute goal (84:25), her team-best fourth of the season. Wenzel and King assisted the goal. Neither team scored again in the game.

Game Notes
  • Junior GK Sara Bower (Cincinnati, Ohio) totaled six saves for the Zips out of eight total Rockets shots.
  • Akron registered eight shots on goal.

Western Michigan 2, Buffalo 0
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Western Michigan women's soccer team claimed the outright MAC Championship with a 2-0 victory over Buffalo on Wednesday afternoon. 

Abby Smothers broke the program record for points in a career with two goals against the Bulls. Reagan Sulaver made three saves in net to earn the shutout. 

FIRST HALF
It didn't take long for the Broncos to get going, as Smothers scored 27 seconds into the match to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage. Buffalo would try and respond just a few moments later, but Sulaver was there to make a nice diving save. 

Sulaver made another strong save in the 11th minute, and the WMU offense went back to work. Smothers continued to wreak havoc on the Buffalo defense, scoring off of a corner kick for her second goal of the game. Western Michigan led 2-0 not even 17 minutes into the match. 

After some back-and-forth action, Mira Pierre-Webster tried her luck on net. The UB keeper was able to keep this one out of the goal. Late in the half, Avery Peters had one last shot miss over the bar. The Brown and Gold went to the half with a two-goal lead. 

SECOND HALF
Ava Beckett and Peters had aggressive chances in the early portion of the second 45 minutes. Peters' chance was just tipped over the bar, leading to a WMU corner kick. The Broncos would threaten, but UB eventually cleared the ball out of danger. 

Peters then tried her luck again a few minutes later, missing just wide of the net. WMU kept up the pressure, as Peters had yet another look. This one was missed just over the right corner of the goal. 

Sulaver would make one more save in the 75th minute, as the WMU defense tightened up down the stretch. The Broncos would go on to close out a 2-0 victory. 

Ball State 2, Northern Illinois 1
Box Score
DeKALB, Ill. – The Ball State soccer team scored a pair of early goals to beat Northern Illinois 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex.

The Cardinals (10-6-2, 7-4-1 Mid-American Conference) got to double digit wins with the decision over the Huskies (4-10-3, 2-7-2 MAC) and concluded the regular season with an 8-2 record in road games.

Addie Chester scored in the third minute off an assist from Lexi Watkins to get the visitors out to a 1-0 edge. Izzy Ross found the back of the net barely a minute later, assisted by Chester and Fiona Kilian, for her first career goal and a 2-0 Ball State advantage.

Chester placed three shots on goal on the afternoon, and the goal was her 11th of the season. Annika Klauss and Emily Roper registered two shots each for the game.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kate Pallante tallied six saves and limited NIU to only a 31st minute goal.

Both teams earned four corner kicks, while the Huskies took more shots (12-8) and were whistled for more fouls (14-12) and offsides violations (4-3).

Ball State earned the No. 4 seed in the MAC Tournament and will play No. 5 seed Kent State at 4 p.m., on Saturday in the first round in Columbus, Ohio.

Miami 1, Kent State 0
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio— The Miami University soccer team posted a 1-0 win over Kent State University in the teams' regular-season finale. The RedHawks move to 11-5-2 (8-2-2 MAC) with the result and are now unbeaten in their last nine matches. Kent State is now 9-7-2 (6-5-1 MAC).

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Miami's best chance in the first half came from a corner kick from Shae Taylor in the 35th minute that found Jaden Sink; Sink's ensuing attempt almost found the back of the net.
  • The RedHawks took the lead in the 60th minute off a Katie O'Malley corner that connected with Shae Taylor on the edge of the box for a one-time, right-footed shot through traffic to make it 1-0.
  • Another chance came for Miami in the 68th minute courtesy of O'Malley but was blocked at the goal line.
NOTES
  • The RedHawk defense allowed just three shot attempts, none in the second half.
  • Taylor scored her second goal of the season and of her RedHawk career.
  • Dominique Popa recorded her 10th shutout of the season and is one shy of the program record.