2024 MACtion on the Pitch: Week 8

A short week of conference saw three teams remain unbeaten in MAC play.

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

This was a rare short week, as all teams had only one game on the schedule. Nonetheless, it still brought another standings shakeup. Let’s take a look at what happened:

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Northern Illinois at Bowling Green (2-1 Bowling Green)

The Huskies would take on the Falcons in Bowling Green. Neither team would find the early advantage in the first half. With 2:56 left in the first half, Emma Stransky would get the Falcons on the board (Jaden Frigerio and Lexi Czerwien assists). With nine seconds left in the half, Isabel Struble would equalize for the Huskies (Aubrey Robertson and Katie Bennett assists). The score would be 1-1 at the half. 4:19 into the second half, Czerwien would put the Falcons up for good (Lilly Boebel assist). Check out Czerwien’s game winner:

The Falcons would win their third MAC game, while the Huskies dropped their third MAC loss.

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Western Michigan at Kent State (3-1 Western Michigan)

This was a rematch of the 2023 MAC Tournament semifinal. Could Kent State pull off another win against the Broncos? It started that way in the 18th minute. Jules Dolinski would score her first goal of the season (Alanna Raimondo assist). Here’s the goal for the Flashes:

The Broncos would equalize in the 30th minute. Sammi Glover would score her first goal of the season (Jenna Blackburn assist). With 5:48 left in the first half, Jen Blitchok would score her 11th goal of the season. The Broncos would lead 2-1 at halftime. Kent State would look to equalize, but could not get a shot on goal in the second half. With 5:40 left in the match, Abby Werthman would put the Broncos up 3-1 (Emily Pagett assist) to help the Broncos remain unbeaten.

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Central Michigan at Toledo (1-1 Draw)

The Chippewas would take on the Rockets. Central would concede a penalty in the 17th minute. Olivia Dault would convert for the Rockets to go up 1-0. Toledo would hold that lead through the halftime break. Toledo’s defense held strong to start the second half. In the 78th minute, Claudia Muessig would equalize for the Chippewas. The final whistle would sound, and both teams would walk away with the 1-1 draw. Central would remain unbeaten. We extend our congratulations to Rocket midfielder Olivia Dault. She became the fourth Rocket ever to amass 5,000 minutes played.

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Buffalo at Ball State (0-0 Draw)

The Bulls and Cardinals would face off in Muncie. As you just read, this one would end in a draw. Lexie Thompson would make six saves for Buffalo. Ball State’s Grace Konopatzki and Abby Jenkins would combine for six saves.

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Ohio at Akron (3-1 Ohio)

Ohio would take on a struggling Akron team. 5:26 into the game, Ella Deevers would open the scoring for the Bobcats (Rayann Pruss assist). In the 29th minute, Rylee Mensel would make the score 2-0 for the Bobcats (Iro Fakinou and Hailey Jeng assists). Check out Mensel’s goal:

Akron would finally score a goal in conference play, thanks to Allie McMillen with 3:45 left in the first half (Eesha Sutharshan assist). 41 seconds later, Akron would concede a penalty. Lillian Weller would convert for the Bobcats. No more scoring would take place, and the Bobcats stormed out of Akron with a 3-1 win.

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Miami at Eastern Michigan (1-0 Eastern Michigan)

The RedHawks would travel to Ypsilanti to face the Eagles. Eastern Michigan would get on the board first. Tayla Maddock would score her first career goal in the 38th minute. That would be the game winner as Eastern Michigan earned their first conference win of 2024. Ella Holland would make three saves in the Eagles’ shutout. Miami’s Dominique Popa would make seven saves.

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Standings

Here’s how the standings shape up after the first two conference games:

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MAC Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week

• Lexi Czerwien, graduate forward, Bowling Green

The Rochester Hills, Michigan native tallied one goal and one assist in the Falcons’ win over Northern Illinois. She leads the Falcons with four goals and nine points.

Defensive Player of the Week

• Sammi Glover, freshman defender, Western Michigan

The Rochester, Michigan native scored the game tying goal in Western’s 3-1 victory over Kent State. She was part of a back line that held Kent State to no shots on goal after their opening score.

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Goal of the Week

Our goal of the week goes to Eastern Michigan’s Tayla Maddock. Her first career goal was a game winner.

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Moments of the Week

Our moments of the week goes to Eastern Michigan. With their win, the Eagles remain undefeated at Scicluna Field. The Eagles are undefeated at home through six matches for the first time since 1999.

Our final moment of the week goes to Ohio’s Iro Fakinou. Once a captain for Greece’s U17 National Team, she was called up to Greece’s U19 National Team for their match against Portugal.