Soccer Falls to Western Michigan, 3-1

Thursday, September 28

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7 PM

Central Michigan University

2-3-3, 1-2-0

Western Michigan

6-3-1, 2-0-1

Western Michigan

Central Michigan

Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography

9/28/2023 10:15:00 PM | Soccer

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Jenna Little extends her team lead with her fifth goal; another penalty kick ceded in front of the Chippewas’ home crowd to open MAC play

By: Harrison LaLone

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan Soccer dropped its second Mid-American Conference match of the season Thursday night, 3-1, at the hands of arch-rival Western Michigan at the CMU Soccer Complex.

"I thought our energy and effort was there," Head Coach Jeremy Groves offered. "Full credit to Western though, they were pretty good tonight."

The Broncos (6-3-1, 2-0-1 MAC), picked in the MAC preseason coaches poll to finish second in the league, struck first in the 11^th minute though just two minutes later, the Chippewas (2-3-3, 1-2-0 MAC) found an equalizer.

Jenna Little (Portage, Mich. / Central) found the back of the net to complete a crisp, direct attack that opened behind the center line as Claudia Muessig (Paw Paw, Mich. / Paw Paw) found Cece Mernatti (St. Clair Shores, Mich. / Lakeview) streaking down the left sideline to position herself for the cross into the box.

For the second time in as many home conference matchups, CMU ceded a penalty kick in the 14' to fall behind again, 2-1, in a five-minute barrage of scoring. The match would be iced in the 79' of action, 3-1. In the meantime, Allison LaPoint (Royal Oak, Mich. / Shrine Catholic) tallied four saves in the face of 20 Bronco shot attempts and 13 corners.

"Our keeper made some really good saves but unfortunately we ended up losing on fine margins of mistakes on a penalty and a free kick."

A trip to The Buckeye State remedied the Chippewas last weekend, responding to a loss against Eastern Michigan (Sep. 21) with a two-goal effort at Miami (OH) last Sunday. Another such trip lies ahead with a visit to Toledo Sunday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

"We have to move forward, make sure we're not making these little mistakes that cost us games."

Another long-awaited return was logged for the Chippewas Thursday night as 2020-21 MAC Freshman of the Year Jaelyn Dobrowolski (Traverse City, Mich. / TC West) checked in for Little in the 26'. Dobrowolski had started all of her first 35 collegiate matches but made her first appearance in over a calendar year against Western Michigan after overcoming injury.

Central Michigan Soccer returns to the CMU Soccer Complex next Thursday (Oct. 5) to host another league frontrunner, Buffalo, for another 7 p.m. kickoff. The home schedule flips to Sundays Oct. 15 with visits from Akron and Northern Illinois (Oct. 22) the final two conference weekends of the 2023 season.

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