Central Michigan University Athletics
Soccer Hosts Final Weekend of MAC Tournament
11/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
2009 MAC Championship Page
MOUNT PLEASANT — In a regular season full of firsts, the Central Michigan women’s soccer team finds itself in the same spot as last year, needing two more victories for its first Mid-American Conference Tournament title.
The regular season MAC champion and host Chippewas’ (15-3-2, 9-0-2 Mid-American) first hurdle comes against the three-time defending MAC Tournament champion Toledo Rockets in the semifinal round on Friday at 11 a.m. The winner will square off against the winner of the Eastern Michigan vs. Miami semifinal (Friday at 2 p.m.) in the championship match at the CMU Soccer Complex on Sunday at 1 p.m.
After posting the first unbeaten regular season in conference history, Central defeated rival Western Michigan, 1-0, in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals last Sunday at the CMU Soccer Complex. The win put CMU in the semifinal round for the second consecutive season and stretched its unbeaten streak to 15 matches (13-0-2).
Last year, Central’s breakout season came to an end when it fell, 2-0, to Eastern Michigan in the semifinals that were held in Toledo, Ohio.
“Our season has culminated to this point,” head coach Tom Anagnost said. “Now we have the most formidable challenge ahead of us with Toledo on Friday. I feel our experience at the semifinals last year should help us. We are preparing to play our best game Friday.”
Toledo (11-6-3, 6-3-2 Mid-American) entered the 2009 season as the preseason MAC favorite after winning its first regular season and third straight MAC Tournament championship. The Rockets stumbled to a fifth-place finish in the regular season. UT advanced to the semifinals with a 3-1 quarterfinal win over Ohio in Athens.
Friday will be the first time Central Michigan and Toledo have faced each other in the MAC Tournament. The Chippewas are 3-4-5 in 12 regular-season meetings against the Rockets. CMU is winless (0-3-5) in its last eight matches with UT dating back to 2001.
The squads played a 0-0 tie in Mount Pleasant on Oct. 25. The Maroon and Gold are 17-1-2 in their last 20 home matches since the start of the 2008 season, but 0-1-1 against the Rockets.
“Toledo has a wealth of experience to draw upon,” Anagnost said. “Their seniors have never lost in the MAC Tournament. At the same time, our seniors have something to prove as well because they’ve never beaten Toledo. We have to play confident, composed, focused and aggressive on Friday. If we can do that, we can have a good day on Friday.”
Live stats and live blogs will be available throughout the MAC Tournament semifinals and finals, courtesy of cmuchippewas.com.
CMU News and Notes
CMU in the MAC Tournament — Sunday’s win over Western Michigan was Central’s ninth MAC Tournament victory in program history. The Chippewas are 9-8-1 all-time in the tournament. This is the seventh time CMU has advanced to the semifinal round of the tournament; it has reached the final round twice (2001 and 2004).
Gaining Recognition — The Chippewas’ unbeaten streak is earning them national recognition this week. Central enters the week No. 8 in the Great Lakes Region in the latest NSCAA poll. This is the third time in the last four seasons that the CMU soccer program has been regionally or nationally ranked in one of the weekly polls.

Blanking the Opposition — Central posted a nation-best 16 shutouts in its first 20 contests, two more than the next closest school. The Chippewas posted 13 straight shutouts from Sept. 11 to Oct. 25, tied for the second-longest streak in NCAA Division I history. Eastern Michigan ended the streak in Central’s regular-season finale on Oct. 29, scoring 10:57 into the match to end the streak at 1238:23.
Who Can it Be Now — The MAC-leading CMU offense is getting it done with depth. Fourteen players have combined to score the Chippewas’ 33 goals this season and six players have scored two goals or more this season. Coming through in the clutch has not been a concern for the squad as eight players have netted at least one game-winning goal. Ashley Mejilla became the latest Chippewa to crack the scoresheet in Sunday’s quarterfinal win over Western Michigan, netting the only goal in Central’s 1-0 victory.
