2024 MACtion on the Pitch: Week 9

Broncos break records, stay unbeaten with Ohio atop the MAC

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

We are back to a full week of MAC play! Let’s recap this past week.

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Kent State at Northern Illinois (2-1 Northern Illinois)

Neither team could find the early advantage until the 37th minute, when NIU’s Reegan Kingpavong would score the opener (Katie Bennett assist). The halftime score would be 1-0 NIU. In the 59th minute, Julianna Hill would double the Huskies advantage to 2-0 (Abby Zipse and Tyra King assists). 1:51 later, Kent State’s Allison Collins would bring one back for the Flashes. It would not be enough, as the Huskies finally got their first MAC win.

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Eastern Michigan at Ohio (1-0 Ohio)

Not a lot to write about here, as the Bobcats would score the match winner in the 26th minute. Aubrey Rea would score her third goal of the season. The Bobcats would remain unbeaten. Celeste Sloma would make four saves in the shutout. Eagles keeper Ella Holland would make six saves.

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Bowling Green at Western Michigan (4-0 Western Michigan)

The Falcons would clash with the MAC-leading Broncos. It would also be a reunion for Western Michigan’s Maya Dean. Dean spent 2020-2023 with the Falcons before joining the Broncos.

The Broncos would prove why they were picked as preseason favorites in this match. Western only needed 4:09 to get on the board. Callie Cunningham would score the opener (Jen Blitchok assist). In the 22nd minute, Cunningham would score her second of the match (Jenna Blackburn assist). 1:59 later, Cunningham would complete her hat trick (Blitchok assist). In the 31st minute, Blitchok would finish off the scoring with another goal. The Broncos would remain undefeated in the MAC, handing the Falcons their second MAC loss. Lauren Boafo would make three saves in the shutout.

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Toledo at Buffalo (2-0 Buffalo)

Neither team would score in the first half, keeping the halftime score at 0-0. In the 58th minute, Kelly Severini would score the opener for the Bulls (Sarah Woods assist). Check out the opener:

The Bulls would put the icing on the cake in the 78th minute. Ashley Reyes would convert a penalty kick, to give the Bulls a 2-0 victory. Lexie Thompson only had to make two saves for the Bulls. Rocket keeper Agnes Stenlund made five saves for the Rockets.

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Ball State at Central Michigan (1-0 Ball State)

Addie Chester would score the match winner for the Cardinals in the 18th minute (Jordyn Jeffers assist) to hand the Cardinals their second MAC game, and the Chippewas their first MAC loss. Grace Konopatzki made three saves in the shutout. Allison LaPoint made one save for the Chippewas.

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Akron at Miami (0-0 Draw)

Miami would host a struggling Akron. As you have seen already, this one would end in a scoreless draw. Notably, this result was Akron’s first positive points in the conference campaign. Sara Bower made two saves for the Zips in a combined shutout with Penelope Cuirinier. Dominique Popa would make three saves for the Redhawks.

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Ohio at Ball State (2-1 Ohio)

Ball State would get on the board first on an Avery Fenchel goal in the 13th minute (Addie Chester assist). The Cardinals would hold the 1-0 halftime lead. Ohio would score the equalizer in the 58th minute. Jaimason Brooker would find the back of the net (Anna Burchett assist). With 19:55 to go, Brooker would score again to put the Bobcats up for good. Here’s one of Brooker’s goals:

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Miami at Toledo (2-0 Toledo)

This one was pretty tense right up until the 70th minute, when Olivia Dault scored the opener for the Rockets (Chloe Tadolini assist). Miami would fight to find a goal, but with 9:18 to go, Brooklyn Whitehead would ice the game at 2-0 (Grace Turski assist). Agnes Stenlund made two saves in the shutout. Miami’s Dominique Popa would only stop the ball once.

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Western Michigan at Eastern Michigan (1-1 Draw)

This game was a true struggle with neither team finding the net in the first half or over much of the second half. That changed with 8:07 to go, when Jenna Blackburn would put the Broncos up 1-0 (Jen Blitchok assist). Secora Johnson would equalize with 4:51 in the match to give EMU a crucial point in the standings. Western would remain unbeaten in MAC play with the draw.

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Northern Illinois at Akron (2-2 Draw)

The Huskies would face the Zips. Akron was still searching for their first win. 10:40 into the match, Katie Stafford would score the opener for the Zips (Quinn Casey and Jordanne Oberhaus assists). Check out the opener here:

With one second left in the half, NIU’s Sophia White would equalize for the Huskies (Jordyn Saddler assist) to put the halftime score at 1-1. Tyra King would put the Huskies up 2-1 two minutes into the second half. NIU’s defense held Akron down, but Akron would not give up. With 1:13 left in the match, NIU would concede a penalty and Stafford would step up to equalize the match for the Zips. Akron walked away with their second-straight draw, while NIU came away with their third MAC draw.

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Central Michigan at Kent State (3-2 Kent State)

1:19 into the match, Kelsey Salopek would score the opener for Kent State (Siena Stambolich assist) to give the Flashes the early lead. Check out the opener here:

In the 12th minute, Jaelyn Dobrowolski would equalize for the Chippewas, which established the halftime score. Jules Dolinski would put the Flashes back in front (Stambolich assist) just over a minute after the break, then Stambolich converted a penalty kick in the 63rd to essentially ice the game for the Flashes. In the 80th minute, Lauren Walker would bring one back for the Chippewas, but KSU walked away with the 3-2 win.

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Buffalo at Bowling Green (1-1 Draw)

This one was tight until the 74th minute, when Carolyn Hinkle would put the Bulls up 1-0. About two minutes later, Emily Hollar would equalize for the Falcons (Michelle Hochstadt assist). Both teams would walk away with their second MAC draw of 2024.

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Standings

With four conference games left to go, here’s what the standings look like:

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MAC Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week

• Callie Cunningham, graduate forward, Western Michigan

The Connellsville, Pennsylvania native—and former Kent State Golden Flash—notched a hat trick against Bowling Green. It was only the third MAC hat trick this season. She led the league with six points.

Defensive Player of the Week

• Katie Stafford, redshirt senior defender, Akron

The Gahanna, Ohio native scored both of Akron’s goals against Northern Illinois, and anchored a shutout against Miami. She helped the Zips earn their second straight draw after five straight losses.

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Goals of the Week

Our first goal of the week goes to Eastern Michigan’s Secora Johnson. Her goal helped salvage a point against the MAC co-leaders.

Our final goal of the week goes to Ohio’s Aubrey Rea. Set piece goals always deserve a shout!

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Moments of the Week

Our first moments of the week goes to Western Michigan head coach Lewis Robinson and Jen Blitchok.

With the win over Bowling Green, Coach Robinson earned his 100th head coaching win. He spent four years at NAIA Aquinas College (Michigan), accumulating 76 wins. He’s earned 24 wins since becoming the head coach of the Broncos, and there’s many more to come!

In addition to Robinson’s 100th win, Jen Blitchok broke the Bronco record for points in a season. She has 28 points on the season. She’s also on the verge of breaking the Bronco season record for goals, set by Emma Kahn in 2015.

Our final moment goes to Miami’s Maris Jennings. She was named to Top Drawer Soccer’s midseason list of the Top 100 Freshman (#83).