Sunday's Women's Soccer Results
UMass 2, Eastern Michigan 1
Miami 2, Toledo 1
Buffalo 2, Ball State 0
Kent State 2, Central Michigan 1
Western Michigan 4, Akron 1
Bowling Green 2, Ohio 0
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
UMass 2, Eastern Michigan 1
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. – Two goals scored within three minutes and 25 seconds of each other late in the second half aided the University of Massachusetts women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Eastern Michigan at Scicluna Field in the regular season finale on Sunday afternoon.
Amelia Deren capitalized on a penalty kick opportunity with 89:56 left on the clock to give Massachusetts the go-ahead goal.
UMass improved to 11-2-5 overall and 5-1-5 in the Mid-American Conference, to secure the No. 2-seed in the upcoming MAC Championships to earn the bye to the semifinals round. Eastern Michigan moved to 6-5-6 on the year and 4-4-3 in the league.
Eastern Michigan got on the board first after being awarded a penalty kick early in the first half. At the 12:26 mark, Christie Fransen scored on the penalty kick to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Late in the second half, Massachusetts knotted up the game at 1-1. On a free kick, Amelia Bloom sent the ball towards the front of the net, as Amanda Schultz got her left foot on the ball and chipped it into the back of the goal at the 86:31 mark. It marked Schultz's first career goal.
With only four seconds left on the clock, UMass was awarded a penalty kick of its own. Deren took the kick and converted her seventh penalty kick goal of the season to give the Minutewomen the 2-1 lead.
Massachusetts outshot Eastern Michigan, 13-9, including 5-3 for shots on goal. Corner kicks were even between the two teams at five apiece.
Deren posted a career-high four shots, which included three on goal. Monica Curry and Caroline Dickson followed with three and two shots, respectively. Chloe Kundra, Schultz, Bloom and Sophia Foley all had one shot each. Curry and Schultz both placed one shot on target.
Junior goalkeeper Leah Nisenfeld allowed only one goal and saved two shots through 90 minutes of action.
Eastern Michigan's Ella Holland played the full 90 minutes in net, allowing two goals and stopping three shots.
Massachusetts prepares for the MAC Championships as the Minutewomen secure the No. 2-seed. UMass earned a bye to the Semifinals and will play the winner of No. 3/No. 6-seed Quarterfinals matchup on Tuesday, November 10, at 1 p.m.
Miami 2, Toledo 1
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio — The Miami University soccer team fought to a 2-1 victory at the University of Toledo Sunday. Kayla Perfect extended her point streak to five games and Maris Jennings scored another game-winning goal during the contest. The RedHawks move to 9-6-4 (5-2-4 MAC) with the result. UT is now 7-5-6 (3-3-5).
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Jennings started the RedHawks' scoring attack in the 8th minute by taking a shot from outside the box off her left foot, but the shot was saved.
- In the 13th minute, Jaden Sink blocked a shot that was goal-bound to keep Toledo off the board.
- In the 14th minute, Devin McElroy had a header opportunity inside the six-yard box that required a diving save by the Toledo goalkeeper.
- Miami took the lead in the 17th minute after an effort by Millie Cook and Averie Bierker to leave the ball in space for Perfect, who hit a one-time, right-footed shot into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0.
- In the 23rd minute, Katie O'Malley made a cut-back move in the box on to her right foot, but the shot was kept out of the goal.
- Perfect had another opportunity off a great through ball by O'Malley, but her shot was blocked inside the six-yard box in the 25th minute.
- The Rockets tied the game, 1-1, in the 31st minute with a goal scored by Abby-Lee Sanogo.
- Dominique Popa made a save in the 44th minute, keeping the game tied at one goal apiece.
- Coltie Carson made a left-footed volley attempt outside the box in the 54th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar.
- In the 59th minute, O'Malley was awarded a penalty kick and took the penalty, but her shot went wide right.
- The RedHawks regained the lead, 2-1, in the 65th minute, off an acrobatic, off-balance finish by Jennings into the top left corner.
- Kailyn Morrison made a nice move and fired off a shot in the 86th minute, but the attempt was saved.
- In the 87th minute, Carson made a crucial block to prevent Toledo from tying the game.
Buffalo 2, Ball State 0
Box Score
MUNCIE, IN – The University at Buffalo women's soccer team (5-7-6, 2-5-4) ended the regular season on a high note, defeating Ball State 2-0 at the Briner Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon.
Buffalo had their first shot attempt of the game in the 15th minute as Eva Blatz settled a pass and fired a low shot from just inside the box that was saved by Kate Pallante.
The Bulls had another chance five minutes later as they drew a foul at the top of the box and Mae Hunt took the ensuing free kick and curled a ball on target, but it was right at Pallante who made the save.
Buffalo was on the attack again in the 35th minute as Lexie Thompson played a big ball up to Maddy Murphy who fired a shot in stride, but Pallante dove to her left and knocked the ball out of play. The Bulls limited the Cardinals to just one shot attempt in the opening 45 minutes of play and the game remained scoreless at the half.
The Bulls broke through in the 62nd minute as Hunt took a free kick and played a beautiful ball into the box and Eva Blatz charged in to meet the pass and one-time a shot into the back of the net to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.
Buffalo would utilize set piece magic once again to add to their lead in the 79 minute as Maya Galko took a corner kick and curled a ball in that flicked off the head of Maddy Murphy to the foot of Sofia Mastracci who banged a shot into the bottom right corner of the net to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead and that insurance goal was enough to secure the victory for UB.
The Bulls outshot Ball State 9-4 including a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal, while also maintaining a 6-4 edge in corner kick opportunities. Thomspon made one save on the day to secure her league-leading 10th clean sheet of the season while Pallante made three stops for the Cardinals.
Kent State 2, Central Michigan 1
Box Score
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State Soccer finished-up the regular season with a win at home over the Central Michigan Chippewas on Sunday by a score of 2-1. The victory extended KSU's unbeaten streak to six games and clinched them a top-three seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament down in Columbus. It will be the 19th time the blue and gold have qualified for the conference tournament in 27 years as a program.
Both defenses started off strong, but the Flashes were able to get on the board first late in the first half as Samantha Miller scored on a header on assists from Jules Dolinski and Ava Lukyan in the 36th-minute to give the Flashes a 1-0 lead heading into the halftime break.
The Flashes kept the offense moving well in the second half as they were able to score again in the 61st-minute. Allison Collins moved the ball down the left side of the field and found Josie Morgan who scored from distance for her first goal of the season to double her team's lead. The Chippewas would score in the 78th-minute, but Kent State's defense would hang tough for the remaining 11 to come away with the win in the regular-season finale.
Both teams were able to fire-off a lot of shots in the contest as KSU narrowly outshot CMU by a count of 20-18, while both teams were even in shots-on-goal with 10 a piece. Kent State also narrowly led in the corner kicks category by a tally of 9-7. Senior goalkeeper Leah Shaffer once again had a great day in net as she was able to produce nine saves on 18 shots faced, allowing just one goal.
Western Michigan 4, Akron 1
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan women's soccer (10-4-4, 8-2-1 MAC) closed the regular season with a 4-1 win over Akron (7-7-4, 3-4-4) Sunday afternoon at the WMU Soccer Complex, led by a goal and two assists from junior forward Kaiya Stewart on Senior Day.
The Broncos had already locked up their fourth straight MAC regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament on Thursday at UMass, and they wasted no time Sunday. Redshirt junior forward Tessa Fagerson put Western Michigan in front 3:05 into the match, finishing a Stewart feed with her right foot into the top left corner. The goal ended Akron goalkeeper Sara Bower's chase for a school-record eighth shutout of the season inside the first four minutes. Bower entered the day tied for Akron's single-season record with seven.
Stewart doubled the lead at 16:28, scoring into the bottom left off an assist from junior midfielder Meredith Vance.
Akron (7-7-4, 3-4-4 MAC) pulled one back just before the break. Olivia Pilato scored with 22 seconds left in the first half, assisted by Jordanne Oberhaus, and the Broncos went into halftime up 2-1.
Western Michigan controlled the second half and finished with a 22-8 shot advantage. Freshman midfielder Simone Sharpless restored the two-goal cushion in the 65th minute, scoring into the bottom left off Stewart's second assist of the day. Forward Kiya Gilliand capped the scoring at 81:41, assisted by Sharpless.
Sophomore goalkeeper Reagan Sulaver made two saves in 90 minutes for the Broncos. Bower finished with five saves for the Zips. Western Michigan led 9-3 in shots on goal and 2-0 in corner kicks.
Stewart closes the regular season as the MAC leader in points (17) and goals (7) in conference play, with Fagerson second in points (15). Vance's assist was her seventh in MAC play, the most in the league. Fagerson and Stewart share the team lead with eight goals each this season.
Bowling Green 2, Ohio 0
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Junior Haley Wolf's first collegiate goal proved to be the game winner, as the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team posted a 2-0 win over Ohio University on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 1). The Mid-American Conference match was held at Cochrane Stadium.
Senior Emme Butera also scored for the Falcons (8-3-6, 4-2-5 MAC), who clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament with the victory.
BGSU will be the fifth seed for the six-team conference tourney, which begins Saturday (Nov. 7) at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in Columbus.
Junior Payton O'Malley made four saves in the Falcons' shutout win.
For the Bobcats (5-10-2, 2-7-2 MAC), Ayla Rammel and Bella Wyatt each played 45 minutes between the posts, and each surrendered one goal. Rammel had two saves and Wyatt one for the 'Cats, who also had a team save.
Wolf's goal came with just over six minutes gone. She took a pass from senior Audrey Oliver on the left side of the field, and quickly tapped the ball ahead to senior Ella Kane in the penalty area. Kane attempted a quick shot that was blocked, but Kane was first to the rebound.
Kane tapped the ball back to Wolf, who was on the left side of the area near the 18-yard line. The junior quickly settled the ball and lofted a curving shot toward the upper right corner. The leaping Rammel got a hand on the ball, but could not keep it out of the net.
The Bobcats entered the day's action already eliminated from MAC Tournament contention, but kept battling after surrendering the early goal. Ohio hit the woodwork with a pair of second-half shots, but could not find the tying goal, and Butera and the Falcons netted the clinching goal with just over nine minutes remaining.
The scoring sequence began when Wolf blocked an Ohio pass near midfield, with the ball going to Kane. Kane found Wolf on the left side of the field, with Wolf playing a cross through the box just outside the six-yard line.
Wolf's ball went past several players and found freshman Mia Ugarte, who hit a shot that was blocked. But, the ball caromed directly to Butera on the six-yard line, and the senior quickly blasted a shot past Wyatt to double the BG lead.
Ohio had a 14-12 advantage in total shot attempts, but the Falcons had a 6-4 lead in shots on goal. Both teams had four corner kicks in the contest.
The Falcons had entered the day's action in seventh place in the MAC standings, needing a result to have a chance to qualify for the league tourney.
