Eastern Michigan Athletics
MAC West Division Crown Highlights 2014 EMU Soccer Season
11/13/2014 12:58:00 PM | Soccer
The Eagles had 10-or-more wins for the third-straight season, while capturing their second consecutive MAC West Division title
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The 2014 Eastern Michigan University soccer team continued the traditional success of the program, going 11-7-1 to record double-digit victories for the third-straight season and accomplishing the feat for the first time since the Green and White posted six-straight double-digit win seasons from 1996-2001. The Eagles also posted a 7-4-0 mark in Mid-American Conference play to capture back-to-back MAC West Division titles for the first time in school history.
"Despite not repeating as MAC regular season champions, I still think we had a lot of positives come out of this season," noted EMU Head Soccer Coach Scott Hall. "The entire team prepared and worked hard throughout the season. The result of that hard work and preparation was winning two MAC West titles in a row, which is a first in our program's history."
The Eagles were led by a large senior class that played a primary factor in 37 victories, including 26 in MAC play, over the past four seasons. Finishing their final seasons donning the Green and White were: Emily Dzik, Marisa Kozikowski, Molli Krick, Jenna O'Dell, Bianca Rossi, Martha Stevens and Angela Vultaggio. Four of those seniors collected All-MAC honors as Dzik, Krick and Vultaggio found spots on the first team while Rossi was an All-MAC Second Team member. Eastern Michigan had the second-most representation of any conference institution on the All-MAC teams.
Vultaggio paced the EMU offensive attack for the third time in her four seasons as an Eagle, recording eight goals and three assists for a total of a team-best 19 points. The Chesterfield, Mich. native ends her stellar EMU career 33 goals and 85 points to rank third in the EMU soccer record book, while her 19 career assists tie for fifth. Closely behind Vultaggio in scoring was Rossi. The senior forward tallied six goals throughout the 2014 campaign to finish with 24 through her four years, tying Katie Lewis for fourth in Eastern laurels. As a team, EMU scored 29 goals with nine different Eagles finding the back of the net, including four who recorded their first career goals in Krick, Hallee Kansman, Chelsie Oddan and Ellie Tillar.
On the defensive side of the pitch, junior Megan McCabe started 17 games, posting a 10-6-1 record in goal for the Green and White. Out of her 10 victories, eight of them were shutouts, increasing her career total to 12 and moving into a tie with former Eagle goalie Erin Norton for fourth on the EMU shutout list. McCabe made 75 saves during the season, holding an .806 save percentage along with a 1.03 goals against average. Also guarding the goal in a pair of games was O'Dell, who picked up a victory on Senior Day against Ohio, Oct. 19. Not to be overlooked, the rest of the EMU backline deserves credit in pitching eight shutouts throughout the season. Led by team co-captain Dzik, the solid defense of Kansman, Kozikowski, Julia Lombardi, Chanel Vani and Rachel Washburn all contributed to clean sheets during 2014. As a leader of the Eagles' backline, Dzik finished her Eastern career by starting in all 77 games over four years to pace the team in minutes played each season.
Following two exhibition contests at Scicluna Field, EMU kicked off the regular season with a pair of 2-0 victories over Fordham and Indiana, Aug. 22 and Aug. 24, respectively. Behind two goals from Vultaggio within a 53-second span, the Eagles' win over IU was the program's first victory over a Big Ten Conference opponent since EMU posted a 1-0 shutout against Michigan State Sept. 3, 1999. Starting the season off on the right foot, Vultaggio claimed MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors by scoring three of the team's four goals.
After two home exhibition matches as well as two games at Scicluna Field to begin the regular season, EMU spent 35 days away from Ypsilanti for six road contests. Before the Eagles returned home, Sept. 28, they traveled a total of 3,171 miles during the six-game road trip. EMU started life away from home with its first setback of the season, falling to Michigan State, Aug. 29. Two days later, the Green and White met No. 16 Texas Tech in a neutral site game in South Bend, Ind., Aug. 31. Eastern held an early 1-0 lead on the nationally-ranked Red Raiders, but an equalizer forced overtime where Texas Tech found the golden goal to pick up the decision.
The longest venture of the trip was out to the West Coast to face Oregon and Oregon State; the distance from Ypsilanti to Eugene, Ore. is 2,373 miles. However, there was no jet lag for the Eagles as they forced a 1-1 draw with the Ducks before shutting out the Beavers, 1-0. The Eagles brought their strong play from Oregon to the "Windy City," where they soared past Illinois-Chicago by a 4-2 margin, Sept. 21. Life on the rigorous road ended Sept. 26 in Oxford, Ohio as Eastern defeated Miami, 2-0, to kick off MAC play. Two days later, the team returned home to down Ball State in overtime, 2-1, in a Sunday afternoon affair, Sept. 28. to increase the unbeaten streak to five games. The win also marked the program's 100th victory at Scicluna Field as well as Coach Hall's 100th MAC win. The perfect 2-0 opening MAC weekend moved the EMU soccer team up to No. 8 in the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Great Lakes Region rankings for the period ending, Sept. 30. Serving as a primary factor in the 2-0 start in MAC play by making 16 saves, McCabe was named MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week.
EMU saw its unbeaten streak come to an end with back-to-back losses to conference foes Akron, Oct. 3, and Buffalo, Oct. 5. However, the Green and White responded with two shutout victories over Toledo, Oct. 10, and Central Michigan, Oct. 12. Keeping both teams off the scoreboard throughout the weekend, McCabe collected another weekly honor from the conference as the MAC Defensive Player of the Week. The following weekend, the Eagles split their final homestand of the regular season, falling in overtime to Kent State, 2-1, Oct. 17, before sending the seniors out with a 2-1 win over Ohio on Senior Day, Oct. 19.
Even though Eastern lost its next contest to Northern Illinois, the squad still controlled its own destiny in conquering the MAC West Division crown. The quest started with a 1-0 decision over rival Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, Oct. 26. Tillar's goal in the 39th minute was all the Eagles would need to get past the Broncos as the EMU backline limited scoring chances for WMU. Maintaining the momentum once again, the Green and White ensure its spot at the top of the MAC West, claiming the outright title with a 3-0 victory against the Falcons of Bowling Green, Oct. 30. EMU took the second MAC West title since the conference split the standings into two divisions beginning with the 2010 season.
Along with the MAC West championship, the Eagles earned the No. 3 seed for the MAC Tournament to set up a rematch with Western Michigan at Scicluna Field, Nov. 2. The contest was not only a rematch from seven days prior, but it was also a rematch of last year's MAC Tournament semifinal game in Ypsilanti. However, similar to last season's outcome, the Broncos eliminated Eastern from the tournament with a 3-2 win in double overtime. The Eagles rallied from a two-goal deficit with a pair of goals in the final nine minutes of regulation. Krick scored the first goal on a free kick before sophomore Madison Hirsch finished a scoring chance on the back post to knot the game at two goals apiece and force overtime. Nonetheless, in the second extra stanza, Western took advantage of its own free kick to connect on a header and advance in the conference tournament. The 2014 EMU soccer season ended with the Eagles posting a final record of 11-7-1.
Along with the four Eagles earning All-MAC honors, there were other awards given out to members of the team. Dzik collected multiple honors as she and Lombardi were recognized as Capital One Academic All-District honorees, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), for their success on the pitch and in the classroom. Dzik was chosen as first team academic all-district, while Lombardi made the second team list. Dzik was also named as one-of-10 women's soccer players throughout the nation as a finalist for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award, an honor given to someone who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's: community, classroom, character and competition. The senior defender rounded out her accolades by being selected as a fourth team all-American by College Sports Madness.
The EMU soccer team put together another strong season with 11 wins to go along with a division title. Eastern protected its home pitch throughout the 2014 campaign, posting a 6-2-0 record at Scicluna Field. While the senior class will certainly be missed for everything the program has accomplished over the past four seasons, a plethora of talent returns for next season as Coach Hall and the Eagles will look to be in the championship hunt once again.
"Despite not repeating as MAC regular season champions, I still think we had a lot of positives come out of this season," noted EMU Head Soccer Coach Scott Hall. "The entire team prepared and worked hard throughout the season. The result of that hard work and preparation was winning two MAC West titles in a row, which is a first in our program's history."
The Eagles were led by a large senior class that played a primary factor in 37 victories, including 26 in MAC play, over the past four seasons. Finishing their final seasons donning the Green and White were: Emily Dzik, Marisa Kozikowski, Molli Krick, Jenna O'Dell, Bianca Rossi, Martha Stevens and Angela Vultaggio. Four of those seniors collected All-MAC honors as Dzik, Krick and Vultaggio found spots on the first team while Rossi was an All-MAC Second Team member. Eastern Michigan had the second-most representation of any conference institution on the All-MAC teams.
Vultaggio paced the EMU offensive attack for the third time in her four seasons as an Eagle, recording eight goals and three assists for a total of a team-best 19 points. The Chesterfield, Mich. native ends her stellar EMU career 33 goals and 85 points to rank third in the EMU soccer record book, while her 19 career assists tie for fifth. Closely behind Vultaggio in scoring was Rossi. The senior forward tallied six goals throughout the 2014 campaign to finish with 24 through her four years, tying Katie Lewis for fourth in Eastern laurels. As a team, EMU scored 29 goals with nine different Eagles finding the back of the net, including four who recorded their first career goals in Krick, Hallee Kansman, Chelsie Oddan and Ellie Tillar.
On the defensive side of the pitch, junior Megan McCabe started 17 games, posting a 10-6-1 record in goal for the Green and White. Out of her 10 victories, eight of them were shutouts, increasing her career total to 12 and moving into a tie with former Eagle goalie Erin Norton for fourth on the EMU shutout list. McCabe made 75 saves during the season, holding an .806 save percentage along with a 1.03 goals against average. Also guarding the goal in a pair of games was O'Dell, who picked up a victory on Senior Day against Ohio, Oct. 19. Not to be overlooked, the rest of the EMU backline deserves credit in pitching eight shutouts throughout the season. Led by team co-captain Dzik, the solid defense of Kansman, Kozikowski, Julia Lombardi, Chanel Vani and Rachel Washburn all contributed to clean sheets during 2014. As a leader of the Eagles' backline, Dzik finished her Eastern career by starting in all 77 games over four years to pace the team in minutes played each season.
Following two exhibition contests at Scicluna Field, EMU kicked off the regular season with a pair of 2-0 victories over Fordham and Indiana, Aug. 22 and Aug. 24, respectively. Behind two goals from Vultaggio within a 53-second span, the Eagles' win over IU was the program's first victory over a Big Ten Conference opponent since EMU posted a 1-0 shutout against Michigan State Sept. 3, 1999. Starting the season off on the right foot, Vultaggio claimed MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors by scoring three of the team's four goals.
After two home exhibition matches as well as two games at Scicluna Field to begin the regular season, EMU spent 35 days away from Ypsilanti for six road contests. Before the Eagles returned home, Sept. 28, they traveled a total of 3,171 miles during the six-game road trip. EMU started life away from home with its first setback of the season, falling to Michigan State, Aug. 29. Two days later, the Green and White met No. 16 Texas Tech in a neutral site game in South Bend, Ind., Aug. 31. Eastern held an early 1-0 lead on the nationally-ranked Red Raiders, but an equalizer forced overtime where Texas Tech found the golden goal to pick up the decision.
The longest venture of the trip was out to the West Coast to face Oregon and Oregon State; the distance from Ypsilanti to Eugene, Ore. is 2,373 miles. However, there was no jet lag for the Eagles as they forced a 1-1 draw with the Ducks before shutting out the Beavers, 1-0. The Eagles brought their strong play from Oregon to the "Windy City," where they soared past Illinois-Chicago by a 4-2 margin, Sept. 21. Life on the rigorous road ended Sept. 26 in Oxford, Ohio as Eastern defeated Miami, 2-0, to kick off MAC play. Two days later, the team returned home to down Ball State in overtime, 2-1, in a Sunday afternoon affair, Sept. 28. to increase the unbeaten streak to five games. The win also marked the program's 100th victory at Scicluna Field as well as Coach Hall's 100th MAC win. The perfect 2-0 opening MAC weekend moved the EMU soccer team up to No. 8 in the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Great Lakes Region rankings for the period ending, Sept. 30. Serving as a primary factor in the 2-0 start in MAC play by making 16 saves, McCabe was named MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week.
EMU saw its unbeaten streak come to an end with back-to-back losses to conference foes Akron, Oct. 3, and Buffalo, Oct. 5. However, the Green and White responded with two shutout victories over Toledo, Oct. 10, and Central Michigan, Oct. 12. Keeping both teams off the scoreboard throughout the weekend, McCabe collected another weekly honor from the conference as the MAC Defensive Player of the Week. The following weekend, the Eagles split their final homestand of the regular season, falling in overtime to Kent State, 2-1, Oct. 17, before sending the seniors out with a 2-1 win over Ohio on Senior Day, Oct. 19.
Even though Eastern lost its next contest to Northern Illinois, the squad still controlled its own destiny in conquering the MAC West Division crown. The quest started with a 1-0 decision over rival Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, Oct. 26. Tillar's goal in the 39th minute was all the Eagles would need to get past the Broncos as the EMU backline limited scoring chances for WMU. Maintaining the momentum once again, the Green and White ensure its spot at the top of the MAC West, claiming the outright title with a 3-0 victory against the Falcons of Bowling Green, Oct. 30. EMU took the second MAC West title since the conference split the standings into two divisions beginning with the 2010 season.
Along with the MAC West championship, the Eagles earned the No. 3 seed for the MAC Tournament to set up a rematch with Western Michigan at Scicluna Field, Nov. 2. The contest was not only a rematch from seven days prior, but it was also a rematch of last year's MAC Tournament semifinal game in Ypsilanti. However, similar to last season's outcome, the Broncos eliminated Eastern from the tournament with a 3-2 win in double overtime. The Eagles rallied from a two-goal deficit with a pair of goals in the final nine minutes of regulation. Krick scored the first goal on a free kick before sophomore Madison Hirsch finished a scoring chance on the back post to knot the game at two goals apiece and force overtime. Nonetheless, in the second extra stanza, Western took advantage of its own free kick to connect on a header and advance in the conference tournament. The 2014 EMU soccer season ended with the Eagles posting a final record of 11-7-1.
Along with the four Eagles earning All-MAC honors, there were other awards given out to members of the team. Dzik collected multiple honors as she and Lombardi were recognized as Capital One Academic All-District honorees, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), for their success on the pitch and in the classroom. Dzik was chosen as first team academic all-district, while Lombardi made the second team list. Dzik was also named as one-of-10 women's soccer players throughout the nation as a finalist for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award, an honor given to someone who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's: community, classroom, character and competition. The senior defender rounded out her accolades by being selected as a fourth team all-American by College Sports Madness.
The EMU soccer team put together another strong season with 11 wins to go along with a division title. Eastern protected its home pitch throughout the 2014 campaign, posting a 6-2-0 record at Scicluna Field. While the senior class will certainly be missed for everything the program has accomplished over the past four seasons, a plethora of talent returns for next season as Coach Hall and the Eagles will look to be in the championship hunt once again.
Players Mentioned
D
/ Soccer
F/D
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
D/M
/ Soccer
MF
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
GK
/ Soccer
GK
/ Soccer
MF
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
MF
/ Soccer
MF
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
D
/ SoccerCinematic Highlights: Eastern Soccer vs. Kent State
Monday, October 28
Cinematic Highlights: Soccer vs. Western Michigan
Monday, October 14
Cinematic Highlights: Eastern Soccer vs. Miami
Monday, October 07
Cinematic Highlights: Eastern Soccer vs. Toledo
Friday, September 27