Soccer Heads West for Matchup With Western Michigan

Soccer vs. Western Michigan
Date	Sunday, March 7 \| 2 p.m.
Venue	Waldo Stadium \| Kalamazoo, Mich.
Match Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	EMUEagles.com
Twitter	@EMU Soccer \| @EMUAthletics

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Coming off a season-opening victory against Central Michigan, 2-1, the Eastern Michigan University soccer team treks west on I-94 to take on Western Michigan University Sunday, March 7. Kickoff from Waldo Stadium is set for 2 p.m.
   Both teams enter the match having won their first games. Eastern defeated the Chippewas, 2-1, March 4, while the Broncos handled the Huskies of Northern Illinois, 1-0 on the same day.
   Fans can follow the game via live stats, and find the link on the soccer schedule page of EMUEagles.com. Additionally, updates will be posted from the team's Twitter account, @EMUSoccer.

LIFTING THE LID: With its 2-1 victory over Central Michigan, March 4, the Eastern Michigan soccer team moved to 12-7-7 all-time in season-openers. In addition, the Eagles improved to 14-7-3 in conference openers, and remained unbeaten at home in those games (9-0-1).
   Eastern looks to get out to a 2-0 start for the first time since the 2014 season. EMU also looks for a 2-0 start to conference action, last accomplished in the same season.

EASTERN VS. THE MITTEN: The Eagles sit 48-58-19 all-time against teams hailing fom the State of Michigan. EMU's most common in-state opponent is Western Michigan, with 31 all-time meetings and an even ledger (13-13-4). Central Michigan follows, with 24 all-time matchups, and Detroit Mercy close behind at 23 meetings. The Green and White hold the advantage in both series, with a 15-6-3 record against the Chippewas and 10-9-4 mark against the Titans.

FRESHMAN ON THE MOVE: Freshman Lexy Alston was the deciding factor in EMU's match against Central Michigan, March 4. Scoring the game-winning goal in the 87th minute, the Amherst, Ohio native became the 10th Eagle in program history to score in their debut game.
   The last Eagle to do so was teammate Amanda Cripps, who scored in her Green and White debut, Aug. 22, 2019 against Oakland.

ALWAYS USING HER HEAD: Junior Sarah Ash leveled the score at one in the 77th minute against Central Michigan, March 4, by sending a header to the top-right corner of the goal.
   A season ago, scoring her first career goal, Ash once again used her head to tie the game, heading the ball past the Ball State keeper in Eastern's 3-2 OT loss, Sept. 29, 2019.

HOME SWEET DOME: March 4, 2021 marked the first time the St. Joe's Sports Dome has been used for counted athletic competition in the history of Eastern Michigan Athletics. While the facility has hosted spring soccer games in past seasons, it has not held any regular-season competition .

200 WATCH: With the 2-1 win over Central Michigan, March 4, Eastern Michigan Head Coach Scott Hall notched his 199th career victory to move his career records to 199-176-54 overall and 126-89-26 in Mid-American Conference action.
   The "Ironman of the MAC" has a chance to secure his 200th career victory, all as the head coach at Eastern Michigan, March 7 against Western Michigan.
   Hall is the longest tenured soccer coach in the MAC, and his three MAC Regular Season titles are tied for the most in conference history.

WATCH OUT FOR TAUSEND: In the past two meetings between Eastern and Central, EMU senior Haley Tausend has been the deciding factor. Oct. 25, 2018, Tausend netted the game-winning, overtime goal to push the Eagles past the Chips. A season later, Oct. 31, 2019, Tausend came through again for the Green and White, scoring the game-winner in the 27th minute to clinch EMU's spot in the postseason.
   While not scoring in the 2021 meeting between the two sides, Tausend still played a large role in the victory, tallying the assist on Sarah Ash's goal that evened the score.

FIRST TIME IN THE SPRING: The start of the 2021 season marked the first time the program has played a regular season match in the month of March, as well as the latest start to a season in program history.

SAME NUMBERS, NEW FACES: Eastern Michigan welcomed three additions to the program in the fall in Lexy Alston, Vittoria Greco, and Sam Lenaghan. EMU's #4, #11, and #17 will all see new faces don those jerseys in 2021. The freshman will have big shoes to fill, as the seniors that occupied those numbers last season left a lasting impression on the program.
   Alston will take over #4, previously worn by Peyton Davis, who was a Second Team All-MAC selection and three-time Academic All-MAC honoree for EMU.
   Greco will wear #11, previously donned by Kristin Hullibarger, a Second Team All-MAC selection, 2019 All-MAC Tournament team member, four-time Academic All-MAC honoree, and Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American, who also led the Green and White in points in 2019 (18) and tied for most goals (7).
   Lenaghan will don #17, taking it over after Aubrey Martin graduated. Martin was the 2020 MAC Medal of Excellence female recipient from Eastern Michigan, while also garnering three Academic All-MAC selections and helping the Eagle defense to eight shutouts in her time with the program.

SCOTT HALL'S RECRUITING MAP: It is no surprise that the three additions to Eastern Michigan's 2020 roster hail from Ohio (Lexy Alston) and Ontario (Vittoria Greco and Sam Lenaghan). In Head Coach Scott Hall's 25 seasons with the program, the three largest states or provinces of origin for players are: Michigan - 109, Ohio - 43, and Ontario - 31.

WELCOME TO THE NCA-EH: The 2020-21 Eastern Michigan soccer roster features nine Canadians, the third-most in program history. The 2018 and 2019 squads each featured 11 players from up north, while 2016 and 2017 rosters each had 10.

G IS A MYSTERY: Freshman Vittoria Greco becomes just the second player in EMU program history to have a last name that starts with the letter 'G'. The other was Stacey Gudorf, who suited up for the Green and White in 1997 and 1998.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan have met 30 times in program history, with the series even at 13-13-4. EMU has won two of the last three meetings with the Broncos, and holds a 5-6-2 record when playing in Kalamazoo.

LAST MEETING: The Eagles overcame a 0-2 deficit in the first half to hand Western Michigan its first Mid-American Conference loss, 3-2, Oct. 6, 2019, at Scicluna Field.
The comeback marked the first time the Eagles have erased a two-goal deficit to win in program history.
   Down 0-2 heading in to the 70th minute, then-junior Lindsey Shira dribbled through the Broncos' defense for a score. Moments later, then-freshman Amanda Cripps drew a foul in the Broncos' box and was awarded a penalty kick, which she slipped past the Western Michigan goalkeeper to tie the game, 2-2, just 30 seconds later. With under eight minutes remaining, Shira ripped a rocket from well beyond the box that found the top left corner for the game-winner, 3-2.

LAST TIME IN KALAMAZOO: The Eastern Michigan University soccer team's comeback came up short at Western Michigan, Sunday, Oct. 14, at the WMU Soccer Complex. Trailing by one at the half, Eastern evened the score in the 52nd minute, but were downed, 2-1, on an 81st minute strike by Western.

MAC PRESEASON POLL: The Eastern Michigan University soccer team was picked to finish second in the MAC West, the conference office announced, March 3. EMU received 58 points and four first-place votes, while also garnering two predicted champion nods.

MAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll

MAC Women's Soccer East Division Coaches Poll
1. Bowling Green – 67 points (8 first place votes)
2. Buffalo – 61 points (3)
3. Kent State – 41 points (1)
4. Ohio – 39 points
5. Akron – 24 points
6. Miami – 20 points

MAC Women's Soccer West Division Coaches Poll
1. Ball State – 64 points (6 first place votes)
2. Eastern Michigan – 58 points (4)
3. Western Michigan – 52 points (2)
4. Central Michigan – 39 points
5. Toledo – 26 points
6. Northern Illinois – 13 points

Predicted Champion: Bowling Green (7), Eastern Michigan (2), Ball State (1), Buffalo (1), Western Michigan (1)

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan continues its road tilt, heading to DeKalb, Ill. to face Northern Illinois University, March 14, at 3 p.m. The game will either be played at NIU Soccer Complex, or in Rockford, Ill.

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Players Mentioned

Lexy Alston

Sarah Ash

Amanda Cripps

Peyton Davis

Vittoria Greco

Kristin Hullibarger

Sam Lenaghan

Aubrey Martin

Lindsey Shira

Haley Tausend

Eastern Michigan Athletics