Eastern Ready For Toledo, Bowling Green

Soccer at Toledo \| vs. Bowling Green
Date	Thursday, Oct. 10 - 7 p.m. \| Sunday, Oct. 13 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Paul Hotmer Field - Toledo, Ohio \| Scicluna Field - Ypsilanti, Mich.
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stream & Stats	ESPN+ \| EMUEagles.com
Twitter	@EMU Soccer \| @EMUAthletics

TOLEDO, Ohio & YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University soccer team continues Mid-American Conference play Thursday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. at the University of Toledo and Sunday, Oct. 13 against Bowling Green State University at 1 p.m.
   Thursday's game will be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats will be available for both games, and the links can be found on the schedule page of EMUEagles.com. Additionally, the action on the pitch will be live-tweeted from the team's account, @EMUSoccer.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Michigan and Toledo are as even as can be when it comes to all-time matchups, being tied at 10-10-1. The last meeting between the two sides occurred Oct. 4, 2018 in Ypsilanti, Mich. Redshirt senior Kristin Hullibarger (Brooklin, Ontario-Donald A. Wilson), redshirt junior Sabrina McNeill (Whitby, Ontario-Henry Street), and junior Madeline Olson (Libertyville, Ill.-Libertyville) each found the back of the net in the 4-3 loss to the Rockets.
   The Eagles hold a 13-9-1 all-time series record against the Falcons. The teams last met Oct. 7, 2018 in Bowling Green, where BGSU came away with the 1-0 win.

SCOUTING THE ROCKETS AND FALCONS: The Eagles visit Toledo, who has a 3-9 record in 2019 and is 0-4 in MAC play. Stephanie Currie leads the offense for the Rockets, tallying a team-top five goals and 13 points. In goal, Madison Perrin has totaled 44 saves in nine games.
   Bowling Green comes to Scicluna Field with a 6-4-2 season tally and 4-0 MAC record. The Falcons will take on Central Michigan, Oct. 10, prior to facing the Eagles. Leading the BG offense is Nikki Cox, who leads the team with five goals and 14 points, while Maureen Kennedy and Kennedy White are close behind with four goals each. Keeper Kathleen Duwve has 26 saves in 11 games.

2 IN 1: Junior Lindsey Shira (New Baltimore, Mich.-Anchor Bay) became the first Eagle to score two goals in a game since Hullibarger scored both goals in Eastern's 2-0 win over Kent State Sept. 21, 2018.

2 DOWN, BUT NOT OUT: Eastern Michigan, down by two goals to Western Michigan, came back to score two goals the span of a minute to tie, and eventually complete the 3-2 comeback win, marking the first time in program history the Eagles have come back from two goals down to win. The Eagles came back from down two goals to tie Oakland, 3-3, Aug. 19, 2012.

DEFENDER ON OFFENSE: Shira recorded her first brace of her college career Oct. 6, 2019 against Western Michigan. The pair of goals pushed her to nine points on the season, exceeding her previous career-high of six points in a season. Shira is now three points shy of 20 career points.

GAME-WINNERS: Shira has scored both game-winning goals for the Eagles in the last two matches. Oct. 4 against Northern Illinois, Shira scored in the 62nd minute to seal the win. Oct. 6 against Western Michigan, Shira scored the momentum-changing first goal in the 70th minute and found the back of the net for the go-ahead goal in the 83rd minute.

TWO IN A ROW: Shira and freshman Amanda Cripps (Bradford, Ontario-Trinity Catholic) have each scored at least one goal in two consecutive matches (Oct. 4 against Northern Illinois and Oct. 6 against Western Michigan).

40 FOR 10: McNeill's sixth-minute goal at Miami, Sept. 27, pushed her past the 40 career points mark. Adding a goal against Northern Illinois, Oct. 4, McNeill sits at 43 career points with 16 career goals and 11 career assists. The redshirt junior became the seventh member of the 40-point club, and ranks tied for 12th all-time with Paige Sheridan for career points.

FIRST CAREER...: The first conference weekend of the season contained a couple milestones for Eastern Michigan soccer players. At Miami, Sept. 27, senior Aubrey Martin (Toronto, Ontario-Father John Redmond) recorded her first career point on an assist to junior Tessa Osborne's (Mentor, Ohio-Lake Catholic) 80th-minute goal.
   At Ball State Sept. 29, sophomore Sarah Ash (South Lyon, Mich.-South Lyon) recorded her first career goal, assist, and points. Her first goal came on her first career shot, as well. Ash assisted on McNeill's goal in the sixth minute and scored in the 50th minute at Ball State for her first three points.

EYEING THE RECORD BOOKS: Redshirt senior Hullibarger took over sole possession of 11th place in all-time career points after recording an assist Oct. 4 against Northern Illinois. Her 44 points eclipsed Paige Sheridan's 43, and are four short of Stephanie Clarke's 47.

ROAD WARRIORS: Eastern Michigan played six consecutive road games for the third time in the team's 25-year history. After first completing the road swing in 2001, the Eagles repeated the feat a decade later in 2011.
The longest road swing the Green and White have taken occurred in 2008 for a seven-game non-conference road slate.

110 MINUTES WITHOUT A GOAL: Eastern Michigan and Youngstown State ended in a 0-0 tie after two overtime periods Sept. 13, 2019. This is the first scoreless draw for the Eagles since October 16, 2016 against Kent State. This was the 19th time in 25 seasons that Eastern has ended in a scoreless tie.

GOAL SCORING DEBUT: Freshman Cripps became the first freshman to score for Eastern Michigan in her collegiate debut since Angela Vultaggio Aug. 19, 2011 in a 2-2 2OT draw with Pittsburgh.

SUPER SENIORS: Returning for their redshirt senior seasons, Hullibarger and Peyton Davis (North Ridgeville, Ohio-Holy Name) look to leave their mark on EMU soccer. Hullibarger led the Eagles with eight goals and 21 points during the 2018 season and grabbed Second Team All-MAC honors. Hullibarger's 18 career goals to date ranks ninth all-time in program history.
Davis returns for her final season after sitting out the 2018 season due to injury. In the season prior, she led the team with five goals and 12 points while earning Second Team All-MAC and Academic All-MAC honors.

OFFENSIVE POWER: Of the 27 goals scored by Eastern Michigan in 2018, 26 were scored by returning members to the 2019 roster (Hullibarger (8), McNeill (7), Olson (3), Kerr (2), Frantz (1), Osborne (1), Cobetto (1), Frederick (1), Tausend (1), Chatzis (1)).

OH, CANADA!: The 2019 Eastern Michigan roster features 11 Canadian players. The 11 members tie the 2018 roster record for most Canadian members of the team.

IRONMAN OF THE MAC: Scott Hall enters his 21st season at the helm of Eastern Michigan's soccer program. Hall is the longest tenured coach in the MAC, and his three MAC Regular Season titles are tied for the most in conference history. Hall has compiled a 193-172-53 career record and 120-81-27 mark in MAC play.

MAC PRESEASON POLL: The Eagles were selected to finish seventh in the Mid-American Conference in 2019 after finishing the 2018 campaign with an overall record of 10-11, 5-6 in the MAC. The Eagles return 23 of 26 members from the 2018 squad.

2019 MAC Preseason Poll
1. Bowling Green
2. Ball State
3. Kent State
4. Buffalo
5. Ohio
6. Western Michigan
7. Eastern Michigan
8. Central Michigan
9. Akron
10. Toldeo
11. Miami
12. Northern Illinois

ON THE HORIZON: The Eagles enter a MAC road tilt the following weekend, taking on Kent State Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in Kent, Ohio, followed by a trip to Athens, Ohio Sunday, Oct. 20 for a 1 p.m. matchup with Ohio.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Stay connected with the Eagles all season long by following @EMUSoccer and @EMUAthletics on Twitter for all of the latest EMU soccer updates. Be sure to use the hashtag #EMUEagles.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sarah Ash

Amanda Cripps

Peyton Davis

Kristin Hullibarger

Aubrey Martin

Sabrina McNeill

Madeline Olson

Tessa Osborne

Lindsey Shira

Angela Vultaggio

Eastern Michigan Athletics