Soccer Ties Second-Place Buffalo, Falls Short of MAC Tournament Berth

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan Soccer took Buffalo to a scoreless draw Thursday afternoon on the final day of Mid-American Conference regular season competition, falling two points short of making the league's six-team bracket.

"It's a tough conference from top to bottom," Head Coach Jeremy Groves said. "Before conference started, [the MAC] was fourth throughout all conferences in America in win percentage. Every game is really difficult."

The Chippewas were the only team in the MAC to earn a point in the matchups against the league's top two seeds in the upcoming MAC tournament, the only team to hold regular-season champion Western Michigan scoreless and just the third to register a shutout against the Bulls in conference play.

Thursday's contest was slated to be a tale of two halves before it kicked off as 20 mile-per-hour winds favored the south goal, the direction Central Michigan opened the match toward. Both sides took full advantage of the environment as CMU outshot Buffalo, 7-1, in the opening half while the Bulls peppered in an 11-2 mark in the second.

Allison LaPoint (Royal Oak, Mich. / Shrine Catholic) registered five saves though multiple other Buffalo chances were influenced by the gusts into unpredictable flight paths, keeping the senior keeper on her toes for much of the contest.

LaPoint's performance marked the second-best single season in program history in total saves (98) and left her second all-time in career stops (285). Thursday was the senior's fourth shutout of the season in 18 games, 15^th of her 60-game career.

Ashley Scesniak (Hoffman Estates, Ill. / William Fermd) had three of CMU's six on-target attempts, twice forcing the Bulls' keeper to reach full-extension to the crossbar to keep from allowing a Chippewa goal.

Central Michigan led NCAA I in 2024 with 15 players listed as seniors or fifth-year players. For a program that's battled through intense adversity over the last three seasons, the 2024 senior group has rebuilt its foundation.

"Two years ago, we could only field 14 players, so we played a lot of games with hardly any players, and I think they've all been through their trials and tribulations. For me, they have my utmost respect. They've just been a great group to come in every day and train with. To practice, to film, they've just been a joy to be around."

The Chippewas marked their best start to conference play in a decade (five straight undefeated), the highest scoring output in a single game (Sept. 11 at Purdue Fort Wayne) in nearly two decades and the first victory over a power-conference opponent in five years (Aug. 25 v. Cincinnati).

"I think I speak for all the coaching staff; we would do anything for them."

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— CMU —

Soccer Ties Second-Place Buffalo, Falls Short of MAC Tournament Berth

Team Stats

Ashley Scesniak

Myla Stewart

Jaelyn Dobrowolski

Jenna Little

Players Mentioned

Allison LaPoint

Ashley Scesniak