Central Michigan University Athletics
Key Conference Matches Ahead For Soccer
10/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Oct. 11, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The Central Michigan University soccer team heads into the home stretch of the conference schedule this week with a pair of road matches.
The Chippewas travel to first-place Ohio on Friday at 3 p.m. It will be a meeting between the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference standings. Both teams enter the contest with school-record shutout streaks on going. Ohio has gone eight contests without giving up a goal and goalkeeper Michelle Meglaughlin has a shutout streak of 824 minutes. CMU's streak is five matches with keeper Anne Decker holding a 512 minute shutout streak.
The Chippewas' second match of the weekend is a contest at Marshall, a team that handed CMU a critical loss late last season. The match is set to start at noon on Sunday.
The Mid-American Conference standings endured a major shake-up last weekend. The two constants were Ohio and CMU, who remained at the top of the standings. The Bobcats (6-0-2) were victorious in their lone match of the weekend, a 3-0 defeat of Marshall. They sit at 20 points in the conference, three points ahead of CMU (5-1-2) who improved to 17 points with a 4-0 victory over Akron.
The shake-up occurred in spots three through seven with Western Michigan and Miami, who entered the weekend tied for third, going a combined 0-3-1 last weekend. That opened the door for Ball State (4-2-4) to move into third with 16 points. There is now a three-way tie for fourth with Kent State (4-2-2), Eastern Michigan (4-2-2) and Western Michigan (4-3-2) sitting at 14 points.
Miami (4-3-1) fell from third to seventh over the weekend because it lost both its matches. The final playoff spot is still held by Northern Illinois (2-2-5) with 12 points and Toledo (3-3-1), Bowling Green (2-4-1) and Buffalo are all sitting within four points of the final spot.
HEAD COACH Tony DiTucci:
"It is important we pay attention to detail this week and continue to gain momentum. Both matches this weekend are going to be hard-fought contests. Ohio is a solid team who will be well-prepared for our match. Marshall handed us a critical loss last season because we were unprepared to play.
"We need to remember to take things one half at a time and remain focused on the task that is right in front of us. The key for this weekend is to take the momentum we have and build on it every minute of the match."
THIS WEEK • Ohio:
The Bobcats enter this contest one of the hottest teams in the nation. Bobcat senior goalkeeper Michelle Meglaughlin has not allowed a score in over 824 consecutive minutes of action, a mark that ranks her ninth in NCAA Division I history. With her 0.38 goals-against average, she is on pace to shatter both the school and conference single-season records in that category.
The offense is led by sophomore Tiffany Horvath, the 2003 MAC "Freshman of the Year." She has seven goals and five assists for 19 points.
The two teams have played some classic affairs, including a four overtime contest in the 2001 MAC playoff semifinals that CMU won 2-1. CMU leads the series, 5-2, including a 2-1 overtime victory last season.
THIS WEEK • Marshall:
The Thundering Herd have won the last two contests against CMU after the Chippewas won the first five meetings, all by the score of 2-1. Katie Watson leads the offense with four goals and three assists for 11 points. Marshall hosts Eastern Michigan on Friday.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP:
Jacquie Lacek continues to have a strong sophomore season for CMU with nine goals, four assists and 22 points. Lacek had the fourth multi-goal match in the victory over Akron, giving her the second-most in CMU history behind the five by Allison Campbell.
Lacek is also chasing Campbell for most goals and points in a season. Campbell set both records in 2001 with 14 goals and 33 points. Lacek is also moving up CMU's career goals and points lists as she sits tied for third in goals (13) and alone in fifth on the points list (32).
CLOSING NUMBER - 12:
Anne Decker now has 12 career shuouts, seventh-best in MAC history. The record is 24 by EMU's Sarah Willis.
