Perez Ayala Buries Penalty to Force Draw with Kent State, 1-1

Thursday, October 16

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7 p.m.

Central Michigan University

Kent State

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

Perez Ayala Buries Penalty to Force Draw with Kent State, 1-1

10/16/2025 9:58:00 PM | Soccer

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The Chippewas knot up with the current third seed in the MAC

By: Harrison LaLone

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan Soccer collected its third draw in the Mid-American Conference play Thursday night in a 1-1 result against Kent State, which stood third in the league standings prior to kickoff.

"Happy with the character of the players tonight," Head Coach Jeremy Groves said. "We went behind early against the third-place team in our league, but we fought back into the game."

The Chippewas found their equalizer in the 60^th minute via Jimena Perez Ayala's (Monterrey, Mexico / ASF Monterrey) second goal of the season and CMU's first penalty goal since Oct. 27, 2022, also a home match with the Golden Flashes.

Ella Betzold (Essexville, Mich. / Garber) and Ella Dykstra (St. Joseph, Mich. / Saint Joseph) each had a strong look at tipping the scales in the second half. Betzold's run down the right sideline in the 66^th minute was struck down immediately after impact as the KSU keeper met her with a tackle in the 18'; Dykstra settled a ricocheted service by the right post and narrowly missed her chance in close.

"We created two more great opportunities to win the game and their keeper came up with two big saves. We need to still learn to be composed in front of the goal."

Kent State opened the night with a tally on its first shot of the contest in the seventh minute—a well-placed strike from the top of the 18' through a crowd of Chippewa defenders.

Central Michigan withstood a second-half barrage from the Flashes that consisted of 12 shots—six on-target—and eight tries from the corner as the visitors desperately aimed for an insurance goal, only to be undone by Perez Ayala's 60^th-minute conversion.

Brylee Borgman (Norton Shores, Mich. / Mona Shores) rallied from her seventh-minute setback for seven saves and 83 scoreless minutes despite facing 11 shots, many of which came late in the contest as Kent State racked up three of its eight tries from the corner in the final nine minutes.

Since the start of September, the Chippewas have finished either in a draw or a one-goal deficit in nine of 11 outings, tallied all three ties in conference competition at Ball State (Sept. 18) and against Toledo (Sept. 25) along with tonight's contest.

"I thought it was another solid performance overall from our team. Our performances have been decent over the last several weeks."

Central Michigan Soccer faces another MAC contender as fifth-place Miami (OH) plays host to the Chippewas Sunday (Oct. 19, 1 p.m. ET). After a week hiatus, CMU visits arch-rival and league frontrunner Western Michigan (Oct. 26; 1 p.m.), then finishes at home with Eastern Michigan (Oct. 29; 3 p.m.).

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