Soccer Set to Face Akron & Ohio In MAC Play

Match #10 - AKRON
Date	Thursday, Sept. 29 - 7 p.m.
Venue	FirstEnergy Stadium - Akron, Ohio
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Live Stats \| Watch (ESPN+)
Twitter	@EMUSoccer \| @EMUAthletics

Match #11 - OHIO
Date	Sunday, Oct. 2 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Scicluna Field
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Live Stats
Twitter	@EMUSoccer \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University soccer program is set for a pair of Mid-American Conference matches this week as the Eagles will travel to the University of Akron and play host to Ohio University. The Eagles (1-5-3, 0-1-1 MAC) and Zips (1-4-2, 0-2-0 MAC) will meet at 7 p.m. inside FirstEnergy Stadium in Akron, Ohio, Thursday before the Eagles and Bobcats (4-4-1, 0-2-0 MAC) square off at Scicluna Field in Ypsilanti Sunday at 1 p.m.

QUICK KICKS:
» Eastern Michigan is playing its 28th varsity season and sports a 246-228-63 overall record and stands 140-103-31 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 207-197-60 (129-99-29 MAC) during his time in Ypsilanti.
» The Eagles are four wins from their milestone 250th all-time victory.
» Eastern is now 140-103-31 all-time in the Mid-American Conference and sports a 14-7-5 record in its opening league contest of the year, 17-5-4 in its first home MAC match and 11-12-6 in its first MAC road contest.
» Jamie Lefebvre notched her first goal of the season off a Maddie O'Farrell assist against Central Michigan as Eastern earned a draw with its rivals.
» With her assist, O'Farrell now leads the team in points with six (two goals, two assists).
» A youthful side, the Eagles' freshmen and sophomores have combined to record 90.0 percent of the team's goals, 75.0 percent of the assists, and 85.7 percent of points tallied.
» Rebecca Przybylo currently is tied for the MAC lead in saves with 38.
» Former Eagle Kaylin Williams (2015-18) recently signed a professional contract with KFF Vllaznia (Albania) and played in the UEFA Women's Champions League, one of the top club tournaments in the world.

BUSY WEEKEND: The Eagles will play two matches this week with Sunday's contest against Ohio helping wrap up Homecoming Week. The annual event, which begins Tuesday, Sept. 27, will see the Eastern football team play host to the University of Massachusetts at 2 p.m. inside 'The Factory' at Rynearson Stadium. All former players are invited to attend the All Sports Reunion Saturday, Oct. 1, from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the South Endzone. For more information and to purchase tickets, click HERE.

SCOUTING AKRON: The Zips (1-4-2, 0-2-0 MAC) enter the week coming off a pair of shutout losses to open conference play after falling, 3-0, at the University at Buffalo and 2-0 at home to Kent State University. Akron has been shut out in four consecutive matches with its last goal coming Aug. 25 in a 1-1 draw at Oakland University. So far, the Zips have scored just four goals on the season with Emma King leading the way with two while both Caitlin Bruni and Morgan Pentz chipping in one each. Defensively, Penelope Cuirinier has seen most of the action in goal, recorded 24 saves and allowing nine goals for a 1.80 goals-against average and 72.7 save percentage.

IN THE SERIES - EMU vs UA: Thursday's match will mark the 21st all-time meeting in the series with the Eagles holding a 13-5-2 record against the Zips despite Akron grabbing wins in the past two matches. In the last meeting, the Zips took a 2-0 victory in Akron (Oct. 10, 2021) to snap Eastern's two-match winning streak in the Rubber City. The Eagles hold an edge of 43-22 in goals scored overall and will be facing the Zips in back-to-back road contests for the third time in program history. The last time this occurred was in the 2011 (Sept. 25) and 2012 (Oct. 21) seasons with Eastern dropping the first contest, 3-0, before winning in double overtime, 2-1, in the second.

SCOUTING OHIO: The Bobcats (4-4-1, 0-2-0 MAC), similarly to the Zips, enter the week following a pair of shutout losses to Kent State (2-0) on the road and Buffalo (3-0) at home. Abby Townsend leads a potent OU offense that has netted 21 goals on the year, including 11 in an 11-0 win over the Virginia Military Institute earlier this year. Townsend, one of 12 different Bobcats to record at least one goal in 2022, has a team-high four goals and five assists for a MAC-best 13 points. Five other players have scored multiple goals, including Aubrey Rea, who has added three. Defensively, four players have logged minutes in goal with Celeste Sloma starting all nine contests to record 25 saves and allow seven goals for a 0.78 goals-against average and 78.1 save percentage.

IN THE SERIES - EMU vs OU: Eastern and Ohio are meeting for the 30th time in series history with the Eagles holding a slim 13-12-4 advantage all-time. The Bobcats won the last meeting, a 2-1 decision in Athens last year (Oct. 21, 2021) and also took the last match played in Ypsilanti by the same score (Sept. 23, 2018). The series has seen several streaks with Eastern winning four in a row after an opening tie with OU winning three and four in a row in the early 2000's. The Eagles then won six in a row between 2012-16 to reclaim advantage before the Bobcats won three in a row and four of the last five.

WEEK IN REVIEW: The Eagles posted a record of 0-1-1 last week as they played visiting Central Michigan University to a 1-1 draw in Ypsilanti before dropping a 5-0 decision on the road at Ball State University. The matches were the first Mid-American Conference contests of the 2022 season.

POST-MATCH NOTES - CENTRAL MICHIGAN:
» Eastern played its first match at Scicluna Field in 2022 after renovations forced the Eagles to Brighton for their first three contests. The last time the Eagles played at Scicluna was Oct. 28, 2021, a 2-1 overtime loss to CMU.
» Jamie Lefebvre's goal was the first of the year for the sophomore and secured her first points of the campaign.
» With her goal, Lefebvre is the eighth different Eagle to find the back the net in 2022 and the 11th different player to record at least one point.
» Maddie O'Farrell's assist on the goal is her second of the season and moves her into the team lead with six points on two goals and two assists in 2022.
» Vittoria Greco led the team in shots with five on the day, including a team-high four on goal, as five different Eagles tallied three or more shots in the contest.
» CMU goalkeeper Emma Shingler recorded 11 saves on the day for the Chippewas to tie for the eighth-most saves by a keeper in a match played at Scicluna Field.

POST-MATCH NOTES - BALL STATE:
» Meagan Lukowski recorded the lone shot on goal for the Eagles and was one of five players to record one shot in the match.
» Rebecca Przybylo and Kevser Guendogdu each saw action in goal with Przybylo recording five saves in 69 minutes and Guendogdu stopping two shots.
» The five goals surrendered are the second-most in a single MAC match with a 6-1 loss at Toledo (Oct. 10, 2019) ranking as the highest.

LID LIFTED: The matches with both Central Michigan and Ball State marked several firsts, including the first MAC match of 2022, the first home conference tilt, and the first road league match. With their 1-1 draw against the Chippewas, the Eagles are now 14-7-5 all-time in their MAC lid lifter. Additionally, Eastern remained undefeated when its first MAC match of the season is played at home, moving to 9-0-3. With the 5-0 loss to the Cardinals, the Eagles slipped to 8-12-6 in their first MAC road contest of the year.

DRAWING IT UP: With their 1-1 tie against Central Michigan (Sept. 22), Eastern recorded their third draw of the season. With those results, the Eagles have posted three draws in back-to-back seasons for the third time in program history and the first since the 2015 (three) and 2016 (four) campaigns. All told, Eastern has now posted three or more draws in a single season 12 times in its 28-year history.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Former Eagle Kaylin Williams (2015-18) recently signed a professional contract with KFF Vllaznia, the nine-time running Albanian champions, and played in the UEFA Women's Champions League, one of the top club tournaments in the world. Earning the start and playing the full 90 minutes in her debut, Williams' side played Vorskla Kharkiv to a 1-1 draw in the first of their two-legged tie. The return match is set for Wednesday with the aggregate winner advancing to the group stage.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Last year, Eastern struggled on offense, recording just 13 goals. Through nine matches this year, the Eagles are off to a much better start with 10 goals, leaving them just three shy of equaling their 2021 total. Overall, eight different players have scored at least one goal, seven have recorded at least one assist, and 11 total players have recorded at least one point this year. Comparatively, the 2021 squad had nine different players scored goals (+1), six record assists (-1), and 12 players (+1) tally at least one point.

SPREADING IT AROUND: Of those 11 players that have recorded at least one point in 2022, eight are freshmen and sophomores, including four freshmen. Through the match with Ball State(Sept. 25), the sophomores lead the way with team highs in goals (six), assists (four), and points (16), while the freshmen have chipped in the second-highest totals in all three categories, including three goals, two assists and eight points. When breaking it down further, the freshmen and sophomores account for 90.0 percent (9-of-10) of the team's goals scored, 75.0 percent (6-of-8) of assists, and 85.7 percent (24-of-28) 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 4-0 win at Illinois State (Aug. 21), the Eagles are perched on 246 all-time victories, needing just four more for the milestone.

NEW TO THE XI: Ahead of the Dartmouth match (Sept. 4), no freshmen had found their way into the Starting XI. That changed when Lily Spotak earned a place in the starting lineup. On the road at Morehead State (Sept. 8), two more freshmen earned their first collegiate starts with Kevser Guendogdu and Hannah Thompson each earning places in the Starting XI.

DEBUTANTES: So far in 2022, 10 different players have made their collegiate debuts with freshman Kevser Guendogdu (at Morehead State, Sept. 8) and both freshman Meghan Oliver and sophomore Tess Williams each logging their first collegiate minutes at Kentucky (Sept. 11). Prior to the trip to the Bluegrass State, the members of the freshman class that had logged minutes this year included Arielle Fink, Mary Grimes, Emily Iafrate, Secora Johnson, Lily Spotak, Cailyn Smith, and Hannah Thompson.

UP NEXT: Eastern is back on the pitch for two more MAC contests next week as it plays host to Kent State University before traveling to the University at Buffalo. The Eagles and Golden Flashes will meet at Scicluna Field in Ypsilanti for a 4 p.m. kick Thursday, Oct. 6, before Eastern travels to Buffalo, N.Y., to meet the Bulls in a 1 p.m. kick Sunday, Oct. 9.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Arielle Fink

Vittoria Greco

Mary Grimes

Kevser Guendogdu

Emily Iafrate

Secora Johnson

Jamie Lefebvre

Meagan Lukowski

Maddie O'Farrell

Meghan Oliver

Rebecca Przybylo

Cailyn Smith

Lily Spotak

Hannah Thompson

Tess Williams

Eastern Michigan Athletics