Central Michigan University Athletics
Toth Stays Hot in 1-0 Win Over Western Michigan
10/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
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MOUNT PLEASANT — Junior defender Liesel Toth is quickly making her presence known for the Central Michigan women's soccer team throughout the Mid-American Conference.
The Chippewas (10-3-1 overall, 7-0-0 MAC) defeated Western Michigan (7-6-2 overall, 3-2-2 MAC) 1-0 on Friday afternoon on Toth's third straight game-winning goal.
Neither team was able to generate much offense in the first half, with the two teams combining for five total shots, only one each of which met the goalkeeper.
Freshman forward Jennifer Gassman gave the Chippewas their best scoring chance of the first half when she fired a shot in the 36th minute from the right side of the 18-yard box that WMU goalkeeper Julia Francy stopped to keep the score 0-0 at the half.
"I think we did a real good job of keeping the ball in the first half," head coach Tom Anagnost said. "We played the game pretty well. We possessed for most of the first half, but were unable to generate as many scoring chances as we would like. In the second half, we generated a lot more opportunities and it paid off with the goal."
After a hand-ball just a minute and a half into the second half, Toth capitalized on a free kick from 25 yards out for her fourth goal of the season, all of which have come in game-winning fashion. The kick deflected off a Western Michigan defender deep in the box and rolled past Francy to give the Chippewas the decisive 1-0 lead.
Western Michigan's Alison Szczypka nearly tied the game up in the 69th minute, but senior goalkeeper Shay Mannino made one of her four saves on the day to keep the Chippewas atop the MAC West Division.
With the win in net, Mannino improved her record to 7-1-1 on the season and gave her 39 career wins, breaking the all-time record for wins in CMU women's soccer program history.
The Maroon and Gold held a 11-6 advantage in shots in the contest while taking six corner kicks to WMU's three.
CMU will be back in action on Sunday, Oct. 17 for Senior Day when they take on Northern Illinois. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m.
