Soccer Hosting NIU, Traveling to First-Place BGSU

Soccer vs. Northern Illinois \| at Bowling Green
Date	Thursday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. \| Sunday, Oct. 8 at 1 p.m.
Venue	Scicluna Field \| Ypsilanti, Mich.
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF)
Watch	No TV vs NIU \| Watch at BGSU
Live Stats	Live Stats
Twitter	@EMUS occer \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University soccer team (1-5-6 overall, 1-1-2 Mid-American Conference), which is unbeaten in five of its last six matches, will look to continue its recent success as the Eagles are scheduled to host Northern Illinois University (3-5-3 overall, 1-2-1 MAC) Thursday, Oct. 5, at 4 p.m. prior to traveling to MAC-leading Bowling Green State University (5-4-1 overall, 3-0-1) for a 1 p.m. match Sunday, Oct. 8.

ON THE AIR: The match at Bowling Green will be streamed on WBGU-PBS while live stats will be available for both matches at emueagles.com/livestats.

QUICK KICKS:
»   The Eagles enter the week with an 1-5-6 record after a loss at Kent State University (2-1, Sept. 28) and draw against the University at Buffalo (3-3, Oct. 1), respectively.
»   EMU rallied with two goals in the final seven minutes against Buffalo to earn one point as junior Meagan Lukowski netted her fourth goal of the season in the 84th-minute before freshman Olivia Sipsock tied the match at 3-3 with an 83rd-minute PK. Freshman Cameryn Susey (59th-minute vs. Buffalo) and sophomore Mary Grimes (36th-minute at Kent State) each scored their first career goals last week.
»    Eastern Michigan is now 249-239-70 all-time and stands 143-110-34 in Mid-American Conference play. With one more victory, the Eagles will record the 250th win in program history.
»    Head Coach Scott Hall is currently in his 25th season at the helm of the program and holds an all-time record of 210-208-67 (132-106-32 MAC) during his time in Ypsilanti.
»   Scott Hall is in elite company as the Eagles' gaffer is one of just 44 active head coaches embarking on their 25th or higher season with an NCAA Division I women's program in 2023, and one of only 13 of which has done so at the same school. Hall is the sixth head coach of any sport in EMU history to guide the same program for 25 or more years.

ONE MORE: Eastern sports an all-time record of 249-239-670, leaving the Eagles just one win shy of reaching the 250 victory milestone. The last time the Eagles recorded a milestone victory came Sept. 21, 2018, when their 2-0 home win over Kent State marked the 225th program win.

ALUMNI WEEKEND: The program will hold its annual Alumni Weekend, Oct. 14-15. Alums of the program are invited back to watch the current Eagles train before the football team takes on Kent State later in the day Saturday, Oct. 14, with a social gathering also planned. Then, Sunday, Oct. 15, the soccer team will play host to rival Western Michigan University in a 1 p.m. contest at Scicluna Field.

MAC ASSISTS LEADER: Freshman Kate Robinson leads the MAC with six assists, the most since Nicole Remedios tallied six in 2019. If Robinson reaches seven assists, she would be the first Eagle since 2013 to post seven-plus assists in a season as Angela Vultaggio (8), Stephanie Clarke (7), and Martha Stevens (7) did in the 2013 season.

HOLLAND MAC LEADER + CAREER-HIGH SAVES: Redshirt freshman Ella Holland leads the MAC with 38 saves and tallied a career-high 10 saves against Buffalo Oct. 1. She has four-plus saves in each of the last six matches with 33 in total during that span.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Northern Illinois enters Thursday's match with a 3-5-3 overall mark and a 1-2-1 clip in MAC play. The Huskies snapped a seven-match winless streak with a 1-0 win at the University of Akron Oct. 1. NIU has a pair of other wins, both 3-0 results, over Eastern Illinois University and Western Illinois University, respectively. Isabel Struble is the lone Huskie with multiple goals as she has two.

IN THE SERIES WITH THE HUSKIES: The Eagles hold a 20-5-3 advantage in the all-time series with the Huskies. EMU dropped a 2-0 decision in the most recent match on Oct. 20, 2022, but the Eagles had previously won six-straight matches in the series as Eastern also had a streak of 15-straight matches with a goal against NIU snapped. The Eagles have never lost to the Huskies at home and have won the last three matches in Ypsilanti with a 9-0-3 overall mark at home.

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN: Bowling Green enters the week at 5-4-1 overall and atop the MAC with a 3-0-1 conference record. Three of BGSU's losses came against ranked opponents while the fourth was against the Big 12's University of Cincinnati. The Falcons have shutout their opponent in each of the last four matches and have not conceded a goal for more than 367 minutes. Brynn Gardner leads the squad with three goals while Lili Berg and Madison Vukas have each played 450 minutes in goal with a combined 1.30 GAA.

IN THE SERIES WITH THE FALCONS: Eastern leads the all-time series with Bowling Green, 15-14-2. The Eagles have not won in Bowling Green since a 2-1 win Oct. 6, 2016 (0-3-1 in that span), and have not won against the Falcons since a 2-1 win in double overtime Oct. 5, 2017 (0-5-1 in that span). EMU holds a tight 7-6-1 advantage all-time at BGSU.

LOOKING BACK - AT KENT STATE (L, 1-2 SEPT. 28)
»   Sophomore Mary Grimes scored her first career goal in the 36th-minute on an assist by freshman Kate Robinson before the Golden Flashes ultimately netted a game-winner with 49 seconds left to play.
»   Grimes is the seventh different Eagle to score in 2023.
»   KSU held a 22-11 advantage in shots while corner kicks were even at 4-4.

LOOKING BACK - VS BUFFALO (T, 3-3 OCT. 1)
»   Trailing 3-1 through 83 minutes, junior Meagan Lukowski scored in the 84th-minute to bring the Eagles within one goal before freshman Olivia Sipsock converted a penalty kick to tie the match with 3:36 left to play. The two goal in the final seven minutes marks the first time in program history that the Eagles have scored twice in regulation's final seven minutes.
»   Buffalo netted the match's first goal in the 55th-minute, but freshman Cameryn Susey scored in the 59th-minute on an assist from Sipsock to level the match at 1-1.
» Redshirt freshman Ella Holland tallied a career-high 10 saves.
» EMU scored three goals for the first time since Sept. 29, 2022 (W, 3-2 at Akron).
» The last time the Eagles played in a match with six second-half goals was Oct. 23, 2022.
»   UB held a 21-9 advantage in shots while leading 8-4 in corners.

FRESHMAN TAKEOVER: Through the opening 12 matches of the season, freshman Kate Robinson has made a name for herself as the rookie is averaging 1.0 points per game. Robinson has a trio of goals and six assists, highlighted by a two-assist outing at Purdue Fort Wayne Sept. 7. Robinson has recorded at least one point in eight-of-12 matches with four two-point outings.

NEWCOMER POINTS: Through 12 matches, EMU has accumulated 41 points, including 15 goals and nine assists. Of those 41 points, more than half have come from rookies with Kate Robinson collecting 12 points (three goals, six assists) and Olivia Sipsock with eight points (three goals, two assists).

DRAWS KEEP COMING: After the 3-3 draw against Buffalo, Oct. 1, Eastern Michigan has four-straight draws in home matches for the first time in program history. The Eagles have six stalemates in 2023, equaling 2009's program record. Only five teams have more than EMU's six draws in 2023 (University of Evansville has eight; Western Kentucky University, University of Missouri-Kansas City, California State University Fullerton, and University of California Santa Barbara have seven).

FOLLOW ALONG: You can follow the Eagles on your favorite social media platforms, including Twitter (@EMUSoccer), Instagram (@EMUSoccer), and Facebook (Eastern Michigan Soccer).

UP NEXT: Eastern Michigan is scheduled to travel to the University of Toledo Thursday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. before hosting Western Michigan University Sunday, Oct. 15, in a 1 p.m. match.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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Mary Grimes

Ella Holland

Meagan Lukowski

Kate Robinson

Olivia Sipsock

Cameryn Susey

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