Soccer Travels to NIU, Hosts BGSU This Week

Match #16 - NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Date	Thursday, Oct. 20 - 4 p.m. CT (5 p.m. ET)
Venue	DeKalb, Ill.
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Live Stats \| Watch
Twitter	@EMUSoccer \| @EMUAthletics

Match #17 - BOWLING GREEN \| SENIOR DAY
Date	Sunday, Oct. 23 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Scicluna Field (Parking Directions)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Live Stats
Twitter	@EMUSoccer \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University soccer team returns to the pitch this week for two important Mid-American Conference matches as the Eagles travel to face Northern Illinois University Thursday, Oct. 20, before returning home for Senior Day Sunday, Oct. 23, against Bowling Green State University. The Eagles (3-9-3, 2-5-1 MAC) will open the week with a 4 p.m. CT (5 p.m. ET) match in DeKalb, Ill., against the Huskies (5-6-4, 2-4-2 MAC) at the NIU Soccer Complex before facing the Falcons (5-5-4, 3-2-3 MAC) in Eastern's home finale Sunday at 1 p.m. at Scicluna Field.

QUICK KICKS:
» Eastern Michigan is playing its 28th varsity season and sports a 248-232-63 overall record and stands 142-107-31 in Mid-American Conference play.
» Head Coach Scott Hall is currently in his 24th season at the helm of the program and holds an all-time record of 209-201-60 (131-103-29 MAC) during his time in Ypsilanti.
» Sunday's match with Bowling Green will mark the home finale for the 2022 season and will serve as Senior Day for Sarah Ash and Kylie Frantz. A ceremony for the duo will be held at halftime of the match with the Falcons.
» Eastern went 1-1-0 over the weekend, including a come-from-behind, 2-1 win at Western Michigan University, Oct. 16, to snap a three-match losing skid.
» With the win at Western, the 2022 Eagles have surpassed the 2021 team's win total of two and doubled the team's MAC wins from one year with its second of the year.
» The Eagles have been road warriors this year with all three wins coming away from home.
» Hannah Thompson netted her fourth goal of the season with the game-winning score at Western Michigan, which came off her head in the 85'. With four goals, she is now tied for the 23rd-most goals in a freshman season in the program's history while her nine points rank her tied for 22nd in rookie history at Eastern, leaving her just outside the top 10 in the MAC.
» Maddie O'Farrell added to her team leading goal and point totals with her score at Western Michigan as she now has five goals and 13 points on the year.
» In the win at Western, Vittoria Greco assisted on both goals scored, marking the first time since Oct. 31, 2019, that an Eagle has posted two or more assists in a single match.
» Sophia D'Ambra bagged her second goal of the year in the 2-1 home loss to the University of Toledo Oct. 13 with Arielle Fink earning her third assist, tying for the 11th-most assists in a rookie campaign in EMU history.

SENIOR SENDOFF: Sunday's match with Bowling Green will not only be the final home match of 2022 for the Eagles, but is also will be the final home match for two seniors: Sarah Ash and Kylie Frantz. The duo, who will be honored by the program with a ceremony at halftime, has been a mainstay on the backline for the Eagles since arriving in 2018. The two seniors have logged over 5,500 minutes of playing time and helped on the scoring front with Ash netting four goals, two game-winning strikes, and two assists for 10 points while Frantz tallied 12 points on four goals, two game-winners, and four assists in their careers. Although Frantz was limited to just three games this year because of injury, her last collegiate point came at Illinois State University, Aug. 21, 2022, when she sent a corner kick into the box that was headed into the goal by Ash.

CHASING THE LINE: At the conclusion of matches played Oct. 27, the top six teams in the MAC standings will earn berths into the MAC Tournament that will see the third and fourth-seeded teams play host to quarterfinals matches against the sixth and fifth-seeds, respectively, while the top seed will play host to the semifinal and championship final. With three matches remaining on the regular season slate, the Eagles are on the outside looking in as they are tied for ninth with the University of Toledo with seven points. The University at Buffalo leads the way with 18 points while Ball State University is second with 17. Kent State University (15), Miami University (13), Bowling Green (12) and Western Michigan (11) round out the top six.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies enter the week with a 5-6-4 record and hold a 2-4-2 mark in the league. Northern Illinois is 0-2-2 in its last four, including a 1-0 loss at the University at Buffalo and a 1-1 draw at home with Kent State. Claudia Muessig leads the way offensively for NIU with four goals and nine points while 10 different players have tallied at least one goal in 2022. Defensively, Deighton Warner (11) and Saide McGill (8) have split time in goal with the duo combining for 69 saves and a 1.40 goals-against average.

IN THE SERIES - EMU vs NIU: Eastern holds an advantage of 20-5-3 in its all-time series with Northern Illinois and has won six in a row, including a 2-1 decision in DeKalb, Ill., in the most recent meeting, Oct. 3, 2021. The Eagles are 11-5-0 as the visitors in the series and have won three in a row, including a 1-0 decision Oct. 12, 2018, and a 3-0 victory March 14, 2021. Although the Eagles have posted 10 shutouts in the 28 matches, both teams have found the net frequently as 82 total goals have been scored (2.9 per match) with the two sides combining to score two or more goals in 22 of the 28 matches, including the last four.

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN: The Falcons enter the week with a 5-5-4 overall record and stand 3-2-3 in the MAC following a 1-0 loss at home to Kent State and a scoreless draw at home to Buffalo. Kennedy White not only leads BGSU in goals and points with 11 and 23, respectively, she also leads the MAC in both. Brynn Gardner has contributed three goals and a team-high six assists for 12 points on the year. Defensively, Lili Berg has seen much of the action in goal, recording 56 saves and allowing 14 goals for a 1.05 goals-against average.

IN THE SERIES - EMU vs BGSU: Although the Falcons have won four of the last five meetings, the Eagles hold the advantage in the all-time series at 15-13-2 following a 3-0 setback Oct. 14, 2021, in Bowling Green, Ohio. Eastern is 8-7-1 all-time when hosting Bowling Green after dropping the most recent meeting in Ypsilanti, a 2-1 overtime loss Oct. 13, 2019. While the two teams have combined to put up 89 goals in the 30 matches, last year's 3-0 score was the first in eight matches not decided by one or fewer goals.

WEEK IN REVIEW: Eastern posted a 1-1-0 record last week after dropping a 2-1 decision at home to the University of Toledo Thursday, Oct. 13, before going on the road and winning, 2-1, at Western Michigan University Sunday, Oct. 16. Sophia D'Ambra scored the lone goal in the loss to the Rockets while both Maddie O'Farrell and Hannah Thompson headed home goals in a 2-1, come-from-behind win against the Broncos.

POST-MATCH NOTES - TOLEDO:
» Eastern slipped to 2-9-3 (1-5-1 MAC) on the year while Toledo moved to 2-7-5 (1-3-3 MAC).
» The all-time series between EMU and UT is now tied, 15-15-2, with today's loss snapping a two-match unbeaten streak (1-0-1) in the series for the Eagles
» The loss at home to Toledo drops Eastern to 12-4-2 all-time when hosting the Rockets and marked the first loss in Ypsilanti to UT since a 4-3 overtime setback Oct. 4, 2018.
» With her goal, Sophia D'Ambra now has two on the year, making her the fifth different Eagle to record multiple goals this year. The last time Eastern had five or more players with two or more goals in the same season was 2017 when five accomplished the feat.
» Arielle Fink's helper on D'Ambra's goal gives the rookie three assists for the year, which ties her for the team lead with Maddie O'Farrell. Fink ranks second the team among freshmen in points with Hannah Thompson having seven.
» Three freshmen earned their first collegiate starts against Toledo with Emily Iafrate, Mary Grimes and Fink each making their first appearances in the Starting XI.
» O'Farrell and Meagan Lukowski tied for the team high in shots with four while D'Ambra, who tallied four shots, tied with Lukowski for shots on goal with three each.

POST-MATCH NOTES - WESTERN MICHIGAN:
» Eastern improved to 3-9-3 (2-5-1 MAC) on the year while Western fell to 3-7-5 (3-2-2 MAC).
» The victory for Eastern tied the all-time series with the Broncos at 15-15-4 all-time and also snapped a three-match losing streak when playing in Kalamazoo.
» The win snapped a three-match losing skid for the Eagles.
» With the victory, Eastern has now surpassed its win total from last year when the team finished 2-13-3. The win also doubled the team's conference victory total from one year ago (1-8-1).
» Hannah Thompson scored the first game-winning goal of her career.
» Thompson's goal moved her into second on the team in scoring with four goals and nine total points while Maddie O'Farrell remains the team's leader with 13 points on five goals and three assists.
» Vittoria Greco's assists marked the first time since Oct. 31, 2019, an Eagle has recorded multiple assists in the same contest when Kristin Hullibarger Nason helped on a pair of goals in a 3-1 win at Central Michigan.
» Przybylo had a career day in the goal as she halted a career-high-tying nine shots to pick up the victory. After twice recording a season-high seven earlier this year, Przybylo tied her career high she set Oct. 17, 2021, against Toledo.

ROOKIE RANKINGS: Over the weekend, two Eagles moved up the EMU freshman scoring ledgers with Hannah Thompson adding to her goal total and Arielle Fink helping on one goal. For Thompson, her four goals on the year rank her tied for 23rd in Eastern history among freshmen goal scorers while her nine points has her tied for 22nd. The goal at Western also was her first game-winner, which make her one of 44 rookies to score a game-winner as well. On the assist front, Fink now has three assists, which ties her for 11th all-time among EMU freshmen.

SPOT ON: Hannah Thompson has now scored three goals in the past four matches, including two at home to Kent State University, Oct. 6, the second of which came from the penalty spot after Meagan Lukowski was pulled down in the box. With the conversion, Thompson became the 20th different Eagle to score from the spot in program history with the 32nd goal penalty kick scored (of 45 attempts). Among freshmen in program history, she is one of just five rookies that has converted a spot kick in Eastern's 28 years of play.

BRICK WALL: Over the weekend, Rebecca Przybylo stood tall in goal as she recorded a career-high-tying nine saves in the 2-1 win at Western Michigan Oct. 16. Przybylo, who made several remarkable saves to both keep the Eagles in the match and help preserve the late lead, had twice stopped seven shots this season before equaling her career best that she previously set at home against Toledo nearly one year ago to the day, Oct. 17, 2021.

ONE UP: Last year, the Eagles finished their campaign with a 2-13-3 record and were 1-8-1 (4 points) in MAC play while this year's side currently stands 3-9-3 overall and 2-5-1 (7 points) in conference. The 2-1 road win at Western Michigan gave the Eagles more wins overall and in MAC play from last year with three more contests remaining on the 2022 slate for Eastern to build upon.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Last year, Eastern struggled on offense, recording just 13 goals. In fact, this year's sophomore class has equaled the team's total output with 13 goals of their own, including Sophia D'Ambra's tally against Toledo Oct. 13. Overall this year, nine different players have scored at least one goal, nine have recorded at least one assist, and 13 total players have recorded at least one point this year. Comparatively, the 2021 squad had nine different players scored goals (even), six record assists (-3), and 12 players (+1) tally at least one point.

SPREADING IT AROUND: Of those 13 players that have recorded at least one point in 2022, 10 are freshmen and sophomores, including four freshmen. Through the match at Western Michigan, the sophomores lead the way with team highs in goals (13), assists (10), and points (36), while the freshmen have chipped in the second-highest totals in all three categories, including six goals, four assists and 16 points. When breaking it down further, the freshmen and sophomores account for 95.0 percent (19-of-20) of the team's goals scored, 87.5 percent (14-of-16) of assists, and 92.9 percent (52-of-56) of points tallied.

DIGGING FOR (MILE)STONES: Ahead of the season, Eastern needed five victories to claim the 250th win in program history. With their 2-1 victory at Western Michigan, Oct. 16, the Eagles now have three wins on the year and 248 all-time, needing just two more this year to hit 250.

UP NEXT: The regular season comes to a close next with the Eagles flying south to face Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in a 3 p.m. start Thursday, Oct. 27. Following the conclusion of all matches played that day, the final point totals will determine the top six teams in the MAC standings with No. 3 hosting No. 6 and No. 4 hosting No. 5 in the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals Sunday, Oct. 30. The full standings and tournament slate will be released Oct. 28 by the MAC.

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Players Mentioned

Sarah Ash

Sophia D'Ambra

Arielle Fink

Kylie Frantz

Vittoria Greco

Mary Grimes

Emily Iafrate

Meagan Lukowski

Maddie O'Farrell

Rebecca Przybylo

Hannah Thompson

Eastern Michigan Athletics