Penalty Score Blemishes Brilliant Night in Goal; Soccer Falls to Open MAC Play, 1-0

Thursday, September 21

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7 PM

Central Michigan University

1-2-3, 0-1-0

Eastern Michigan

1-4-4, 1-0-0

Eastern Michigan

Central Michigan

Photo by: Jasper Warner '25 - @jasperwarnermedia

Penalty Score Blemishes Brilliant Night in Goal; Soccer Falls to Open MAC Play, 1-0

9/21/2023 10:35:00 PM | Soccer

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LaPoint collected eight saves to keep a clean sheet until a 72nd minute penalty goal marks the eventual final tally for Eastern Michigan; Chippewas hit the road for Miami (OH) Sunday

By: Harrison LaLone

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan Soccer dropped its opening match of the 2023 Mid-American Conference schedule Thursday night to visiting Eastern Michigan, 1-0, with the lone score on the night collected via penalty.

"Very disappointed in how we came out tonight," Head Coach Jeremy Groves began. "Credit goes to Eastern, they played very good in the first half."

The Eagles opened the match with relentless pressure with six shots on goal between the eighth and 39^th minutes, though Allison LaPoint (Royal Oak, Mich. / Shrine Catholic) proved brilliant as she stopped all six well-struck attempts, twice doing so from the ground to deflect rebounded shots.

"I thought Allison was outstanding tonight," Groves continued. "She made some huge saves."

With a scoreless tally up through 45 minutes, the Chippewas righted the ship to open the second period. Lauren Walker registered the half's first on-target shot less than two minutes after kickoff, the first of three on-frame in the latter half. Meanwhile, LaPoint continued to keep Eastern Michigan at bay with her seventh and eighth saves by the 65'.

Claudia Muessig (Paw Paw, Mich. / Paw Paw), representative of the lone shot on-goal for Central Michigan in the first half, returned with back-to-back aggressive attempts inside the 18' in the 68^th, though both attempts were blocked by a mixed crowd.

If LaPoint's play proved anything through 72 minutes, it was that the Eagles would have to collect the right bounce if they wanted to score. The penalty attempt in the 73' did exactly that as Kate Robinson's attempt narrowly escaped the Chippewa keeper's fingertips to strike just below the face of the crossbar and find the turf just inches past the goal line, rendering Thursday night's final result.

With an 11-day lead-up to Thursday's contest, the quick turnaround of the MAC schedule may prove beneficial for Central Michigan, as it heads for Oxford, Ohio to battle Miami (OH) Sunday at 1 p.m.

"We need to learn from this game and move on quickly to Sunday," Groves concluded. "Every game is important."

The Chippewas return to the CMU Soccer Complex Thursday, Sep. 28 to host arch-rival Western Michigan for another 7 p.m. kickoff.

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