Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Fall, Enter Tournament as 6th Seed
10/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Sure, a win in the regular-season finale would have been nice.
But that, and everything else, is in the rearview mirror now for the Central Michigan soccer team.
Toledo outshot the Chippewas, 12-6, Thursday in handing CMU a 2-0 loss at the Central Michigan Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium. The Chippewas will play at Buffalo on Sunday in a Mid-American Conference Tournament opener.
CMU, 6-10-2 overall, 5-5-1 MAC, is seeded sixth in the tournament. Third-seeded Buffalo, the defending league regular-season and tournament champion, is 11-6-2, 7-3-1. The Bulls finished first in the East Division, while CMU was third in the West.
Buffalo defeated the Chippewas, 3-0, in Buffalo less than two weeks ago.
"No matter how you feel about today, today's performance has absolutely zero bearing on what happens on Sunday," CMU coach Peter McGahey said after Thursday's loss. "I think we have a character within the team that we have responded all season in terms of adversity and the difficulties when the performances haven't gone exactly the way that we've wanted. We have an opportunity to show that on Sunday."
Italia Biondi scored in the 34th minute and Lauren Taylor found the back of the net in the 71st minute on Thursday for the Rockets, 9-11, 5-6, who are seeded seventh for the tournament and will play at second-seeded Western Michigan on Sunday.
The Rockets finished with a 4-1 edge in corner kicks. CMU goalkeeper Zoie Reed made three saves. The Chippewas managed six shots, but just one on goal.
"Our sharpness at moments was good, but collectively and overall I think we had a hard time handling Toledo's pressure," McGahey said. "I think Toledo did a good job of knocking us out of our rhythm and we struggled to find a way to settle that down and push ourselves into the game enough.
"We certainly did not sit back and say we're happy at six (seed), we're happy to be in the playoffs. We went out today to respect the game and give the game a good effort."
