Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Soccer Gets MAC Front-runners on Home Weekend
10/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - A split on the road on the opening weekend of the Mid-American Conference season was a confidence boost for the Central Michigan women's soccer team.
The Chippewas will look to build on that this weekend when they entertain Miami (Ohio) and Ball State, a pair of squads that will most certainly present a legitimate test.
CMU, which is 2-6-1 overall, 1-1 MAC, and Miami, 6-3, 2-0, will meet at the brand-new soccer stadium in the first night home women's soccer match in CMU history at 6 p.m. Friday. The Chippewas entertain Ball State, 6-2-2, 2-0, Sunday at 1 p.m.
Miami and Ball State are two of the three unbeaten teams in the MAC. Both the RedHawks and Cardinals made the MAC Tournament quarterfinals a year ago, as did Western Michigan and Northern Illinois, CMU's two opening-weekend opponents. In fact, Ball State, NIU and Western made the tournament semifinals.
"I think it's a really challenging start, but I think that's why the result on Sunday (2-0 win at NIU) was so important because now you can come home and you can play with a little confidence," CMU coach Peter McGahey said.
That confidence stems from the Chippewas' victory at NIU as they snapped a four-game losing streak and ended a 330-plus minute scoreless drought. Freshman goalkeeper Zoie Reed recorded her second career shutout in earning her first MAC victory.
"It was an important bounce-back performance," said McGahey, who watched his team beat NIU after dropping a 1-0 decision two days earlier at Western Michigan. "We needed to respond, and I thought that we did that. I think it helps us want to get on ball more. It builds nicely into this week."
McGahey said the keys to Sunday's win were CMU's ability to neutralize the Huskies' set pieces, and in finding the right combination in the midfield.
"We found some rhythm of play through the midfield and we've shuffled some players and I think we're finding a little bit better attacking balance," he said. "I think also our defending set pieces was really quite good. NIU is very, very powerful and very, very good in that capacity."
Miami has allowed a MAC-low six goals this season and junior keeper Vic Maniaci's 0.71 goals against average tops the league. She ranks fourth in the conference with a 4.33 saves-per-game average.
Ball State features one of the league's most prolific offenses. The Cardinals average 19.5 shots and 5.3 corners per game (both numbers lead the league), and their 1.7 goals per start rank third among MAC teams.
