Women’s soccer advances to MAC finals with 1-0 win over Toledo

“If this was a boxing match; we were trapped in a corner; we strayed from our game plan, but we have to focus on the positives, which is we still advanced to our third finals appearance in the past four years,” head coach Neil Stafford said.

Senior midfielder Autumn Hawkins added her fourth goal of the season and the game’s one and only goal in the 27th minute of the match, which was assisted by senior MAC Defensive Player of the Year Bailey Brandon.

The goal came off a long throw into the box. The ball bounced around the box until Hawkins managed to put the ball into the back of the net.

The Chippewas finished the first half, limiting Toledo to only one shot, however, this trend did not continue.

After the first half, the Chippewas would only get one more shot off, while Toledo piled up five. Senior goalkeeper Stephanie Turner would have a big game with four saves – one more save than in her last two games combined.

“We really didn’t achieve our game plan today,” Hawkins said. “It wasn’t pretty but that’s how it is sometimes during the tournament.”

Coming into the game, the Chippewas were on a three game-winning streak, out-scoring their opponents 8-0, but this game was a turn around for them. The Chippewas were finally out shot in a game, but still managed to pull out a victory.

“This game was a little bit of a wake up call,” Stafford said. “We know we weren’t our greatest and we know were going to get our ducks in a row for the finals.”

The Chippewas look to avenge an earlier loss against the No. 1 seed Miami (Ohio) at 1 p.m. on Sunday   in Oxford, Ohio in the MAC finals.