Eagles Start MAC Tournament at Ball State

Soccer at Ball State - MAC Tournament
Date	Sunday, Nov. 3 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Briner Sports Complex
Match Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stream and Live Stats	ESPN+ \| EMUEagles.com
Twitter	@EMU Soccer \| @EMUAthletics

MUNCIE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) – After defeating Central Michigan University, 3-1, Oct. 31, the Eastern Michigan University soccer team begins their 14th appearance at the Mid-American Conference tournament Sunday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. at Ball State University.
The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and also have live stats available. Those 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: Ball State holds the series lead 7-12-2. The Cardinals and Eagles met at the beginning of MAC play this season, with Ball State coming away with a 3-2 overtime victory at Briner Sports Complex. Sophomore Sarah Ash (South Lyon, Mich.-South Lyon) recorded her first career goal, while redshirt junior Sabrina McNeill (Whitby, Ontario-Henry Street) also scored for the Eagles.

MAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Eastern Michigan and Ball State have never met in the MAC tournament.

RE-SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals ended the regular season with a 15-4 record and 9-2 mark in conference play for the second seed. Nicky Potts leads the offense for Ball State with nine goals and two assists for a team-leading 20 points on the season. Potts was also named the MAC Player of the Week heading in to the final week of play. Tristan Stuteville is expected to make the start in goal, tallying 80 saves in 18 games.

LEADING THE OFFENSE: During Eastern Michigan's 2-1 win over Buffalo on Oct. 27 at Scicluna Field, redshirt senior Kristin Hullibarger (Brooklin, Ontario-Donald A. Wilson) and junior Lindsey Shira (New Baltimore, Mich.-Anchor Bay) each recorded one goal and one assist to win the game for the Eagles. The last time EMU had the same duo each score a goal and be the assist for the other person was Oct. 27, 2013 at Scicluna Field. The Green and White defeated Akron, 4-1, led by Cara Cutaia and Angela Vultaggio's goals and assists. Both goals occured in the second half like Hullibarger's and Shira's.
The event occured two more times that season: Aug. 23, 2013 and Sept. 22, 2013. In a 3-2 win over Detroit Mercy in August, Vultaggio and Cutaia were once again the offensive leaders for the Eagles. In a 4-0 win over Illinois State, Bianca Rossi scored from Cutaia, followed by Cutaia from Rossi. Both wins took place at Scicluna Field.

    Aug. 23, 2013 Sept. 22, 2013 Oct. 27, 2013
Goal:   Vultaggio/Cutaia        Rossi/Cutaia            Cutaia/Vultaggio
Assist:  Cutaia/Vultaggio        Cutaia/Rossi            Vultaggio/Cutaia

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS: Hullibarger became the 10th Eagle in program history to record 50 career points, Oct. 31 at Central Michigan. An assist to McNeill locked point number 50, and a later assist to freshman Amanda Cripps (Bradford, Ontario-Trinity Catholic) led her to 51. The Brooklin, Ontario native has recorded 20 goals and 11 assists over her career so far.
   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, a brace Oct. 18 at Kent State, and a goal Oct. 31 at Central Michigan, McNeill sits at 49 career points with 19 career goals and 11 career assists. The redshirt junior became the seventh member of the 40-point club, and ranks tied for ninth all-time with Brandy Jones and Courtney Sindelar for career points.
   Oct. 24 against Akron, Shira scored her sixth career goal to reach 20 career points. Adding a goal and an assist Oct. 26 against Buffalo, Shira sits at 23 career points.

GAME-WINNERS: Shira has recorded three game-winning goals this season for the Eagles. 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. Oct. 27 against Buffalo, Shira recorded the helper on Hullibarger's goal to tie the game as well as scored her own goal to give the Eagles the win.

2 IN 1: Eastern Michigan has had two Eagles record a brace so far this season. First, Shira became the first Eagle to score two goals in a game, Oct. 6 vs. Western Michigan, since Hullibarger scored both goals in Eastern's 2-0 win over Kent State Sept. 21, 2018. McNeill followed, scoring a pair of goals Oct. 18 at Kent State.

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. Oct. 27 against Buffalo, Shira had another offensively productive weekend as a defender, recording a goal and an assist to lead the Eagles to victory.

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, Ash 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.

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: 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.

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

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)).

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 196-176-53 career record and 123-85-27 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

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.

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Players Mentioned

Sarah Ash

Amanda Cripps

Peyton Davis

Kristin Hullibarger

Aubrey Martin

Sabrina McNeill

Tessa Osborne

Bianca Rossi

Lindsey Shira

Angela Vultaggio

Eastern Michigan Athletics