CMU plays Miami in MAC tournament semifinals

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The No. 3 seed Central Michigan women’s soccer team travels to Toledo, Ohio, today with one goal in mind: Winning back-to-back Mid-American Conference championships for the first time in program history.

At 11 a.m., the team faces off in a semifinal match against MAC East champion No. 2 Miami RedHawks. The RedHawks (13-6-2) defeated No. 7 Akron 2-0 at home to advance.

On Oct. 1, CMU won its regular season meeting at Miami 2-0 in perhaps one of its best road performances. Senior midfielder Jenna Hill helped take the crowd out of the game when she headed in a ball past freshman goalkeeper Kris Gasparovic.

During the 37th minute, sophomore forward Charlese McLemore dribbled through RedHawk defenders on her way to her first goal of the season.

“Miami will step up more than last time,” said junior defender Liesel Toth. “Once it becomes tournament time everyone is a different team.”

One different factor it may face today is the goalkeeper. In the last meeting, it faced Gasparovic. In the past three meetings, including the 2-0 win against Akron, Miami has started freshman goalkeeper Madison Ryan.

CMU is confident regardless of who is in net for Miami, but understands it will be a tough task.

“It’s good to know that we beat them before,” Toth said. “We know what the team is like and we know their players and understand that they have great forwards.”

Miami leads the MAC in all offensive categories, but don’t underestimate the Chippewas offense.
It ranks near the middle or top of all offensive categories and sophomore forward Laura Twidle has provided an offensive spark with four goals in the last five games.

Along with Toth, she is leading the MAC in game-winning goals along with Toth. She also has a team-leading seven goals.

“She’s a very dangerous player and also very deceptive,” said head coach Tom Anagnost. “She is very tactical and dangerous in front of the goal.”

There is no doubt that it is a young team, so expect the senior leadership to be key during the remainder of the tournament.

Hill, along with fellow senior teammates’ goalkeeper Shay Mannino and midfielder Valarie Prause, have earned a program-best 51 career wins with the 2-1 win against Northern Illinois last weekend.

“They have been here the longest and are the most experienced,” Anagnost said. “They’ve been in the most and biggest matches and we’ll continue to rely on them.”

The winner of the CMU-Miami match will play in the MAC championship game at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Toledo against the winner of No. 1 seed Toledo (15-3-2) and No. 5 Western Michigan (9-6-5).