Toledo, Ball State make important weekend for Chippewas

A conference championship feel will be in the air at 4 p.m. today in Toledo, Ohio, as the women’s soccer team plays Toledo.

The two teams remain undefeated in Mid-American Conference play at 8-0.

CMU and Toledo have combined to win the past four MAC titles. The Rockets won three consecutively from 2006 to 2008 while CMU is looking to win consecutive titles for the first time in the program’s history.

“The whole team is really good,” head coach Tom Anagnost said. “We’re not really focusing on one particular player because they have a handful of them that we’re going to have to worry about.”

The Rockets (12-2-2 overall, 8-0 MAC) are led by senior forward Brittany Hensler, who scored both game-winning goals last weekend. For her performances, she was awarded MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

With the two goals last weekend, she surpassed junior forward Kristen Lynn and freshman forward Rachel MacLeod for the team lead with seven.

CMU (11-3-1 overall 8-0 MAC) has its own handful of players that can get the job done.

Sophomore forward Laura Twidle is avoiding a sophomore slump as she is tied for the team lead in goals with junior defender Liesel Toth.

Senior goalkeeper Shay Mannino leads the MAC with a 0.43 goals against average. Right behind Mannino is teammate sophomore Stefanie Turner, who posses a 0.67 average.

Expect Toledo to bring its own impressive goalkeeping to the field. Junior goalkeeper Vicki Traven has a goals against average under a goal as well. She is fifth in the MAC with 0.90.

The Chippewas have had many close games with Toledo in the past. Its all-time record against them is 3-4-6.

Last season, the only regular season meeting resulted in a tie as the game went scoreless.

In the conference tournament semifinals, the Chippewas edged out the Rockets 4-2 in penalty kicks. They then defeated Miami 1-0 to win its first MAC tournament championship.

At 1 p.m. Sunday, CMU travels to Muncie, Ind., to take on Ball State. The Cardinals (6-8-2 overall, 0-6-2 MAC) are currently last in the MAC West.

They are led by sophomore midfielder Sarah Orisich, who has four goals and 10 total points. Last season, CMU defeated Ball State 3-0 at the CMU Soccer Complex.

There’s no question that the Chippewas will have stiff competition this weekend. Freshman forward Nicole Samuel is taking what she’s learned this season and applying it.

“I learned that you have to get through adversity no matter how tough it might be,” she said.