Soccer Set to Face Michigan State Thursday

Match #5 - MICHIGAN STATE
Date	Thursday, Aug. 31 - 7:30 p.m.
Venue	East Lansing, Mich.
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	Big Ten Network+ \| Live Stats
Twitter	@EMUSoccer \| @EMUAthletics

Match #6 - EASTERN KENTUCKY
Date	Sunday, Sept. 3 - 1 p.m.
Venue	Richmond, Ky.
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live	ESPN+ \| Live Stats
Twitter	@EMUSoccer \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University soccer team, in search of its first win of the season, remains on the road this week for a pair of matches that will see the Eagles renew its series with an instate foe before starting a new series in the Bluegrass State. The Eagles (0-2-2) will open the slate with a trip to East Lansing, Mich., where the Spartans of Michigan State University (3-1-0) await the Eagles at DeMartin Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. Mitten State meeting Thursday, Aug. 31. The trip concludes Sunday, Sept. 3, with the Eagles venturing to Richmond, Ky., to take on the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky University (0-2-1) in a 1 p.m. contest at EKU Soccer Field.

ON THE AIR: Both matches are set to be streamed live this week. First, the Eagles and Spartans will square of on Big Ten Network+ with AJ Evans and Owen Oszust on the call and Marin Klein reporting from the touch line. The weekend concludes with the Eastern battle being aired on ESPN+ with Greg Stotelmye and Wes Chandler on the call.

QUICK KICKS:
» The Eagles played a pair of matches in New England, battling back from a pair of one-goal deficits to earn a 2-2 draw at Dartmouth Friday, Aug. 25, before falling at Northeastern, 3-1, Sunday, Aug. 27.
» Eastern Michigan is now 248-236-66 all-time and stands 142-109-32 in Mid-American Conference play. With two victories this year, 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 209-205-63 (131-105-30 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 will also become the sixth head coach of any sport in EMU history to guide the same program for 25 or more years.
» The Eagles' 2-2 draw with the Big Green marked the first match EMU has played in the state of New Hampshire, the 26th different state the program has played in at least once.
» Two Eagles scored their first collegiate goals over the weekend with sophomore Arielle Fink and freshman Olivia Sipsock opening their accounts against Dartmouth and Northeastern, respectively. While it was Sipsock's first collegiate points, Fink had previously recorded three assists last year in her debut season.
» Freshman Kate Robinson added two points with one assist in both matches over the weekend to move into a tie with Meagan Lukowski for the team lead with four points.
» Lukowski tallied the tying goal against the Big Green to become the first Eagle this season to post multiple goals after scoring in the opener with St. Bonaventure.

TWO MORE: Eastern sports an all-time record of 248-236-66, leaving the Eagles just two wins 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.

MITTEN MATCHES: This week's meeting with Michigan State will mark the second of four matches the Eagles will play against fellow Michigan programs. Eastern fell at Oakland, 1-0, Aug. 20, and will play at Central Michigan, Sept. 21, to open MAC play. The final of the four contests comes Oct. 15 when Western Michigan comes to town. Through the match with Oakland, the Eagles hold an all-time record of 51-52-20 against Michigan teams.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans, defending champions of the Big Ten Conference, enter the match Thursday with a 3-1-0 record following a 2-0 loss at Colorado over the weekend that snapped a three-game winning streak to open the season, a stretch in which MSU out-scored its foes, 11-1. Seven different players have scored at least one goal with three scoring multiple times, including Jordyn Wickes, who leads the team with three goals and six points. Emerson Sargeant has added five points on one goal and team-best three assists. Defensively, Kaitlyn Parks has seen the lion's share of the minutes in goal, allowing just two goals and stopping three shots in 287 of the 360 minutes played this year.

IN THE SERIES WITH THE SPARTANS: The Eagles will look to halt a six-match losing skid to the Spartans and grab just their second win all-time in a series they trail 14-1-3. The last time Eastern earned a result came at home Sept. 20, 2009, in a 1-1 draw with the lone victory standing a 1-0 division in East Lansing, Sept. 3, 1999. The two sides are meeting for the first time since Aug. 22, 2021, a 3-0 victory for the host Spartans.

HEADING HOME: While not a home game for the team, one Eagle might feel at home Thursday night as Maddie O'Farrell will lead Eastern into East Lansing, which is just down the street from her hometown of Haslett. O'Farrell, a 2022 All-MAC Second Team honoree, played for Lansing Catholic and came to Ypsilanti after graduation.

SCOUTING EASTERN KENTUCKY: The Colonels enter the week with a 0-2-1 record and will travel to play DePaul Thursday, Aug. 31, before returning home to welcome the Eagles. EKU has played three close matches this season, falling, 1-0, at Kentucky, and 2-1 at home to Western Michigan before playing Belmont to a 1-1 home draw. Both Erica Cox and Ruby Dunleavy lead the way with one goal each while three other players have tallied assists on those scores. Defensively, Marah Krick has played the entire 90 minutes in all three matches, allowing four goals with 11 saves.

IN THE SERIES WITH THE COLONELS: Sunday's match will mark the first in the all-time series.

LOOKING BACK - DARTMOUTH:
» The Eagles played the Big Green to a 2-2 draw in Hanover, N.H., Aug. 25.
» Eastern came back from a pair of one-goal deficits to earn its second draw of the season.
» Arielle Fink leveled the match at 1-1 with her strike in the 72', a goal that also is the first of her collegiate career after posting three assists last year as a freshman.
» Kate Robinson assisted on the Fink goal, giving her the first helper of the career.
» Meagan Lukowski netted her second of the season, this time in the 84', to make it 2-2.
» The match at DC marked the first time the Eagles have competed in the state of New Hampshire in program history (1995-present) and is the 26th different state played in all-time for EMU.

ANOTHER STICKER: If the Eastern program had a mobile home with one of the maps of the United States on the side, the match at Dartmouth would have allowed the Eagles to add their 26th sticker as that contest marked the first time in program history EMU played in New Hampshire. With the addition and since the inaugural season of 1995, the Eagles have now played matches in: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawai'i, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

LOOKING BACK - NORTHEASTERN:
» Eastern dropped a 3-1 decision to the Huskies in Brookline, Mass., Aug. 27.
» Olivia Sipsock recorded the first goal and first points of the collegiate career as the freshman scored the lone goal in the 83' of the game.
» Kate Robinson earned the assist on the Sipsock goal, giving her two helpers in as many games on the weekend road trip in New England.
» Ella Holland made a career-high seven saves, bettering the four she recorded at Dartmouth one game earlier.

ACCOUNTS OPENED: In both games played over the weekend, a pair of Eagles opened their goal scoring accounts as sophomore Arielle Fink and freshman Olivia Sipsock scored their first collegiate goals with strikes at Dartmouth and Northeastern, respectively. They are the second and third players, respectively, to tally their first collegiate goals this year after Kate Robinson accomplished the feat in the season-opening draw with St. Bonaventure, Aug. 17. The trio of the 92nd (Robinson), 93rd (Fink), and 94th (Sipsock) different Eagles to score at least one goal for head coach Scott Hall in his 25-year tenure with Eastern.

HAPPY TO HELP: Over the weekend in New England, Kate Robinson added to her point total as she tallied one assist in both games. Her first and second collegiate helpers, Robinson is the lone Eastern player in 2023 to have recorded at least one goal and one assist.

NEWCOMER POINTS: Through four matches, the Eagles have accumulated 12 points, including five goals and two assists. Of those 12 points, half have come from rookies with Kate Robinson collecting four points (one goal, two assists) and Olivia Sipsock with two points (one goal).

A HAPPY HELPER: Kate Robinson leads the team with two assists, both of which came last weekend on the road in New England. Last year, the Eagles collected 19 total assists with Vittoria Greco leading the charge with four and both Maddie O'Farrell and Arielle Fink adding three.

DOUBLED UP: The second goal scored at Dartmouth, Aug. 25, not only tied the match, but also gave Meagan Lukowski the team lead with two goals on the year. Averaging 0.5 goals per game in the early going of the season, Lukowski was second on the team last year with four goals after not finding the back of the net her freshman season. She is currently tied for the team lead in points with Kate Robinson, both of whom have four.

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 will once again play a pair of matches next week with the lone difference being only one will be on the road. The Eagles will open with a trip to Fort Wayne, Ind., at the Hefner Soccer Complex Thursday, Sept. 7, to take on the Mastodons of Purdue University Fort Wayne in a 7 p.m. contest that will be streamed live on ESPN+. With six consecutive road matches in the rear-view mirror, the Eagles will finally return home Sunday, Sept. 10, for a 1 p.m. match with the visiting Beacons of Valparaiso University. The final non-conference match of the season also will serve as Senior Day for Tiffanie Hollingsworth and Rebecca Pryzbylo.

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Players Mentioned

Arielle Fink

Vittoria Greco

Ella Holland

Tiffanie Hollingsworth

Meagan Lukowski

Maddie O'Farrell

Kate Robinson

Olivia Sipsock

Eastern Michigan Athletics