2024 MACtion on the Pitch: Week 11

Western Michigan earns back-to-back regular season championships in exciting fashion.

Welcome back to MACtion on the Pitch, your weekly recap of Mid-American Conference women’s soccer.

This is the last full week of MAC play before the tournament! Let’s recap this past week

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Northern Illinois at Ball State (3-1 Northern Illinois)

In what felt like a must win match for both teams, the Huskies struck first. Aubrey Robertson would score the opener (Lea Gruennagel assist). NIU held that 1-0 lead at halftime. 2:34 into the second half, Tyra King would score her eighth goal of the season (Kelsi McLaughlin assist). In the 69th minute, Abby Zipse would make it 3-0 in favor of the Huskies. Here’s Zipse’s goal:

With 9:24 left, Ball State would get on the board with a Jordyn Jeffers goal (Kaelyn Valleau assist). With the 3-1 win, head coach Michael O’Neill earned his 100th career victory.

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Ohio at Buffalo (2-0 Buffalo)

After a scoreless first half, Jasmine Guerber would put the Bulls up 1-0 in the 75th minute (Sarah Woods assist). With 8:40 left to go, Arianna Zumpano would cap off the match with her third goal of the season (Frederique St.-Jean assist). Zumpano had the fancy moves working on this goal:

Bulls goalkeeper Lexie Thompson made three saves in her tenth shutout. Ohio goalkeeper Celeste Sloma made three saves on five shots.

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Miami at Central Michigan (2-1 Miami)

After no score in the first half, Sydney Thompson would open the scoring for the Redhawks in the 53rd minute (Kylee Beinecke assist). Check out the goal here:

2:10 later, Taylor Hamlett would score her tenth goal of the season to put Miami up 2-0. Lauren Walker would pull one back for the Chippewas with 48 seconds to go (Claudia Muessig assist).

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Western Michigan at Toledo (2-0 Western Michigan)

After a scoreless first half, which saw Toledo goalkeeper Agnes Stenlund receive a red card, Jenna Blackburn opened the scoring for the Broncos in the 58th minute. The Broncos would put the match away with 7:52 to go. Maya Dean would score her second goal of the season (Jen Blitchok assist). The Broncos clinched a spot in this years’ MAC tournament. Lauren Boafo did not have to make a save in the shutout. Toledo substitute goalkeeper Paige Dornheggen made six saves in just over 53 minutes of action. Here are the highlights from BCSN in Toledo:

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Akron at Kent State (1-0 Kent State)

This Wagon Wheel battle was close. Kent State’s Ava Todd would score the match winner in the 53rd minute after a scoreless first half. Heidi Marshall would make two saves in the shutout. Akron’s Penelope Cuirinier made 11 saves. Check out the montage:

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Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green (0-0 Draw)

The Falcons and Eagles would play to a scoreless draw. Ella Holland would make three saves for the Eagles, while Payton O’Malley would make one save for the Falcons.

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Ball State at Western Michigan (5-4 Western Michigan)

Buckle up for this one, it’s a bit of a doozy.

Western only needed 1:09 to score the opener. Ava Beckett would score her second goal of the season (Heidi Thomasma and Madi Canada assists) to put WMU ahead— but Addie Chester would equalize for Ball State in the 14th minute (Delaney Caldwell assist) to tie the game right back up.

WMU’s Jen Blitchok would come through twice in the first half to help the Broncos wrest away control of the game, scoring on a Brielle Gomez assist in the 21st minute and a penalty kick to make it 3-1 Broncos at the break.

6:59 into the second half, Chester notched her second goal of the day for Ball State would make it 3-2 (Maya Millis and Audrey Goodyear assists). In the 65th minute, Blitchok would complete her hat trick (Emily Pagett and Jenna Blackburn assists).

Addie Chester would not be outdone, as 36 seconds later, Chester would complete a hat trick of her own off assists from Caldwell and Aleyna Quinn to cut into the Broncos lead at 4-3. Riding the wave of momentum, Avery Fenchel would equalize for the Cardinals (Quinn and Caldwell assists) in the 72nd minute, putting all the pressure on WMU to try and win the game— and the conference.

With 5:24 remaining, Abby Werthman would score the winning goal for the Broncos (Meredith Vance assist) to clinch their second regular season title in a row.

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Bowling Green at Akron (2-0 Bowling Green)

After a scoreless first half, the Falcons would strike first in the 60th minute. Emma Stransky would score her fourth goal of the season (Alaina Uncapher assist). With 2:43 left, Lexi Czerwien would make it 2-0 Falcons. Peyton O’Malley would make two saves in the shutout. Sara Bower made two saves for the Zips.

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Central Michigan at Ohio (3-0 Ohio)

Ohio would only need 3:35 to get on the board first. Jaimason Brooker would score her sixth goal of the season. In the 24th minute, Aubrey Rea would make it 2-0 Bobcats (Rayann Pruss assist). Here’s Rea’s goal:

That score would hold at the halftime break. 8:41 into the second half, Brooker would score her second goal of the game. Sloma would make three saves for the Bobcats. Allison LaPoint made six saves for the Chippewas. With the win, the Bobcats clinched their spot in this year’s tournament.

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Buffalo at Miami (1-1 Draw)

The Bulls would get on the board first in the 38th minute. Arianna Zumpano would score her fourth goal of the season (Carolyn Hinkle assist). Miami would fight to find the equalizer. In the 77th minute, Jamie Hlebec would find that equalizer converting a penalty kick. Both teams would walk away with the draw, but Buffalo would clinch a spot in this year’s tournament.

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Kent State at Eastern Michigan (1-0 Eastern Michigan)

This game saw the match winning goal early. Maddie O’Farrell would score her third goal of the season in the 5th minute (Meagan Lukowski and Sophia Baumann assists). Heidi Marshall made four saves for the Flashes. Holland made five saves for the Eagles, including this great save:

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Toledo at Northern Illinois (1-1 Draw)

Toledo would get on the board first. Kayla Flory would score her first goal of the season with 8:04 left in the first half. Northern Illinois fought to get the equalizer, but couldn’t seem to come up with it. With 4:12 left, Abby Zipse would score her second goal in as many games to make the score 1-1. The late goal helped propel NIU up to fifth in the standings. Check out the equalizer:

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Standings

With one conference game left to go, here’s what the standings look like:

$ – regular season champion
# – clinched MAC tournament berth

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MAC Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week

• Jen Blitchok, graduate forward, Western Michigan

The Bronco forward completes the hat trick of honors, earning her third. Scoring three goals and one assist, she continues her record breaking season helping the Broncos clinch back-to-back regular season titles.

Defensive Player of the Week

• Ella Holland, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper, Eastern Michigan

The Dunwoody, Georgia native earned this week’s honor after posting two shutouts, bringing her total to eight. This is the most for any Eastern Michigan goalkeeper since 2014.

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Goals of the Week

Our goals of the week go to Western Michigan. Check out the montage from their 5-4 victory over Ball State to clinch the number one seed:

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Moment of the Week

Our first moment of the week goes to Western Michigan. They clinched back-to-back regular season championships for the first time in program history. They’ve earned the quarterfinal bye, and will host the semifinals and finals on November 7th and 10th.

Finally, we congratulate Western Michigan’s Jen Blitchok for being named Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Week.

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Upcoming Schedule

Decision day is upon us. Here’s the remaining schedule for the regular season.

All games on Thursday 10/31:

• Buffalo at Central Michigan
• Bowling Green at Kent State
• Ohio at Miami
• Ball State at Toledo
• Northern Illinois at Western Michigan
• Eastern Michigan at Akron