Central Michigan University Athletics
Soccer Wraps Up Conference Schedule
10/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Oct. 21, 2004
The Central Michigan University soccer team enters the final week of the conference season sitting in second-place with a pair of critical road matches on tap.
CMU travels to fifth-place Eastern Michigan on Friday for a match at 3 p.m. The team then heads to eighth-place Miami for its final Mid-American Conference match. The contest is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.
The conference standings remained relatively stable last weekend after a major shake-up two weekends ago. Ohio stayed unbeaten with a win and a tie, and sits in first with a 7-0-3 record and 24 points. The Chippewas also went 1-0-1 last weekend, and remain in second at 6-1-3 and 21 points.
The next four teams only sit two points apart with Ball State (5-2-4) in third with 19 points, Kent State (5-2-3) fourth with 18 points, and Western Michigan (5-3-2) and Eastern Michigan (5-3-2) tied for fifth with 17 points.
CMU has clinched a birth into the MAC tournament, which includes the top eight teams in the conference. The Chippewas need a win or two ties this weekend to secure a first-round home match. The first-round is Nov. 2 at campus sites. The tournament then moves to the highest-remaining seed for the semifinals and finals, set for Nov. 5 & 7.
HEAD COACH Tony DiTucci:
"We need to finish the conference schedule strong and continue to build on the momentum we have right now. The Marshall match showed us that no team is going to hand us a victory. We play every match for a reason and have to work for every conference point.
"The key to the weekend is we play focused, intense soccer and pay attention to detail. The confidence we have in ourselves has been a key to our success this season and we need to continue to remain confident in our abilities.
EASTERN MICHIGAN:
The Eagles sit in fifth place in the MAC with a 5-3-2 record, but all three losses came by one goal. EMU is 9-4-3 overall and will play Michigan State on Sunday.
All-MAC player Jessica Hupe, with 10 goals and seven assists this season, leads the offense. She sits third on the conference list for most all-time points scored with 107. Cyndi Mullins leads the conference in assists with eight.
CMU has never defeated Eastern, losing all six meetings between the two teams. The Eagles won last year's match, 1-0.
MIAMI:
Miami enters this weekend in the eighth and final spot for the MAC tournament. The team plays Akron on Friday before facing the Chippewas on Sunday.
The RedHawks are led by 2004 MAC "Player of the Year" Ashley Swinehart. Swinehart leads the team in goals and points with nine and 21, respectively.
The series is tied at 4-4-1 with CMU winning last seasons contest, 2-1. STREAKS:
The Chippewas continued one streak last weekend while another came to an end. CMU is undefeated in its last seven matches, a school record. The Chippewas have gone 5-0-2 in that period of first with their last loss coming on Sept. 19 to Buffalo.
CMU's streak of six-straight shutouts did come to an end in its 4-2 victory over Marshall. The Chippewas did not allow a goal in 669:30 minutes, just 31 minutes away from the 15th-best mark in NCAA history.
