CMU flies past Miami, Ball St.
Lynn Wloszek
A five-point stretch by sophomore Rachel Snyder lifted the women’s soccer team to a pair of MAC wins this weekend.
Snyder scored the game-tying goal and assisted on the game-winner in the 2-1 win against Miami University Sunday and scored the game-winning goal in overtime at Ball State Friday.
“She is a tremendous athlete that can go forever,” coach Mark Salisbury said. “She is much more mature and playing with a lot more confidence and consistency.”
The wins improve the Chippewas to 4-3-2 overall and 3-2-1 in the MAC.
Central looked like it would continue the trend of struggling in the second game of the weekend when Miami scored four minutes in. The RedHawks controlled play for most of the first half, but Snyder responded by scoring just over goalkeeper Megan Ortner’s head to tie the game before the half.
“(The goal) was absolutely crucial. That made a big difference for us in digging ourselves out of trouble and giving us a window of hope,” Salisbury said.
CMU applied more offensive pressure in the second half and capitalized with 31 minutes remaining on a goal by freshman Jacquie Lacek. She took a crossing pass from Snyder and beat Ortner in the right side of the net.
Miami continued to pressure the Chippewas but freshman goalkeeper Anne Decker made several key saves. She made a point-blank save just after the Chippewas took the lead, and with under 10 minutes remaining stopped Kathleen Vistica’s scoring attempt.
The win was Decker’s third in her last four games and improves her record to 3-2-1 for the season.
“She has earned it, that’s why she has played,” Salisbury said. “She’s playing exceptionally well and made a lot of key saves.”
The win gives CMU its first two-game winning streak of the season.
Salisbury said the win was important for the team’s confidence and said the team is playing much better than it was early on, and his players agree.
“This win was very big for confidence,” Snyder said. “We were struggling a little bit but we never had a full weekend where we won both games so it was really big for us.”
CMU gave Ball State its first loss with the win Friday. The Chippewas took 14 shots in the game. Snyder connected in the second overtime to give CMU its second overtime win in four tries.
“I have a lot more heart compared to last year and we are fighting for a lot more,” Snyder said.
Decker notched her second shutout in only her fourth start, making five saves.
Salisbury said he is very pleased with his team’s performance, but knows it has to continue to improve and work on finishing its scoring opportunities.
“Each day we have to get a little bit better and each day we have to continue to train,” Salisbury said. “We are a better team, but we still have a lot of work cut out for us and we have to get back to training.”
Central returns to the road again Friday at Illinois State.
