This weekend was a weekend of defense dominance, with five out of six games resulting in a shutout. The only exception was Kent State’s lone goal in a 4-1 matchup that ended in the Broncos’ favor.
Broncos push through
Western Michigan’s dominance wasn’t denied as they sailed 4-1 over Kent State in an offensive juggernaut, with Western Michigan outshooting the Golden Flashes 13-7 (9-3 shots on goal). Half of these goals were thanks to midfielder Avery Peters in her first multi-goal game of the season.
After this dominant performance, Western Michigan will hit the road and face off against Akron on Thursday, Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m. Kent State will be gearing up for its final home game of the season against Toledo at 7:00.
An opportunity of a lifetime
A goal in the early minutes of the first half came to be Toledo’s game-winning goal in a defensive battle with the University of Massachusetts (UMass). This battle included Toledo outshooting UMass 10-7 (5-2 shots on goal). Still, there may be hope for the Minutewomen’s defense as an up-and-coming freshman has been given an opportunity of a lifetime.
UMass’s freshman goalkeeper Pepper Escher was recently called up to the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team training camp. Being one of 24 players and one of three goalkeepers called up for training camp. This means she will be absent from UMass’s arsenal from Oct. 22-30.
Redhot RedHawks
Miami scoring their first two goals 30 seconds apart early in the first half made the difference in this matchup. This performance led to Miami’s junior goalkeeper, Dominique Popa’s, 20th career shutout. Popa is now tied for third in Miami’s all-time list in shutouts and is fourth for clean sheets in a season with eight.
After this 3-0 win, Miami will start its final road trip of the regular season, heading up to Athens to take on the Ohio University Bobcats.
The now 0-13-3 Central Michigan won’t play until next Sunday, Oct. 29 when they face off against Eastern Michigan at 1:00 p.m.
Much-needed win
After losing or drawing their past eight games, the Bobcats made some noise on Thursday. Outshooting Northern Illinois 20-5 (11-1 shots on goal) and shut them out for the 3-0 victory.
Ohio’s first two goals came early in the first half, and that 2-0 deficit proved to be too much for Northern Illinois. “First half, first 25 minutes, we weren’t at the races; they scored two goals, and we had a mountain to climb. Not much tactical or matchup-wise,” said Northern Illinois head coach Michael O’Neill, “just don’t think we were ready to compete, which is a shame because that hasn’t been an issue this year, or for a good few games.”
Eastern Michigan barely gets three points
An almost hat trick (three goals in one game) by Olivia Sipsock helped Eastern Michigan power through and get the 3-0 shutout against Akron.
With Eastern Michigan just barely outshooting Akron 13-12, Sipsock’s fifth and sixth goals of the season helped them get the deficit, and Kaylee Synk’s lone goal in the 84th minute propelled them even further.
