OXFORD, Ohio – With just five regular season contests remaining, the Miami soccer team looks to secure its footing in the Mid-American Conference standings on its final road trip of the regular season this weekend.
The RedHawks (3-9-1, 2-3-1 MAC) head to defending MAC champion Bowling Green on Friday at 7 p.m. and wrap up their road slate at Toledo on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Miami picked up one point thanks to a rally for a 1-1 tie at Northern Illinois on Sunday as
Kristina DeMarco scored in the 70th minute of play. The Red & White's seven league points are presently tied with Akron and Ohio for seventh in the MAC, though UA holds the head-to-head tiebreaker and MU has yet to play OU. Miami fired a season-high 32 shots against Northern Illinois on Sunday after dropping a 2-0 home decision to Western Michigan last Thursday. At three goals and six points,
Olivia Winnett still leads the RedHawks' offense while
Izzie Vaccari in net sports a 1.15 goals against average and .846 save percentage.
Bowling Green has won six straight since the start of MAC play and is 8-4-2 overall while firmly perched atop the league standings. Four Falcons have double digit points, led by Nikki Cox' 16 (6 goals, 4 assists). Maureen Kennedy (15 points), Chelsee Washington (13 points) and Kennedy White (11 points) all serve to balance the BGSU attack, which has 25 goals thus far. Kathleen Duwve has played most of the contests in net for Bowling Green, including every second of MAC play as she has 1.33 goals against average and .667 save percentage in 13 starts, numbers that improve to 0.96 and .727 in MAC play.
Toledo sits 4-10 overall and just picked up its first MAC win last Friday over Eastern Michigan as it holds a 1-5 conference record. Friday's 6-1 win over EMU was the only time UT has not been shut out in league action as it has been shut out nine times in 14 contests. Stephanie Currie's six goals and 15 points pace the Rockets, though she has just one goal in league action, while Madison Perrin has received the bulk of the playing time in net with a 2.22 goals against average and .688 save percentage.
Live stats will be available for both contests courtesy of their respective athletic websites while Friday's tilt at Bowling Green also features a live stream while Sunday's contest at Toledo is carried on ESPN+.
Free Kicks
All-Time Series: Miami is 13-9-3 all-time against Bowling Green and 10-13-1 against Toledo. The RedHawks have lost their last two meetings against both programs and are winless the past three tries against the Falcons.
Looking for Faster Starts: While Miami has found itself in close in matches in the second half, it would like to get off to better starts all the same. The RedHawks have scored just once in the first half this season and only netted the first goal twice in their first 13 matches.
Tight Late: While the results haven't quite been there to this point, Miami has found itself in every match well into the second half of contests. The RedHawks have entered within a goal in all 13 contests. The Sept. 27 MAC opener against Eastern Michigan also saw Miami lead at halftime for the first time.
Youth Will Be Served: The RedHawks boast an incredibly young roster with 19 of their 22 players being freshmen or sophomores. Of the 15 Miami players to see the pitch in at least seven of the team's 11 contests, 12 are freshmen or sophomores. Even so, four of the team's eight goals have come from upper classmen with senior
Olivia Winnett striking three times and
Soph Spinell scoring once.
Keeping it Close: Miami's non-conference schedule was not only confined entirely to the Ohio Valley, it was nearly entirely in the Buckeye State itself. Five of MU's seven non-conference tilts came against in-state foes (Dayton, Wright State, Cleveland State, Ohio State and Xavier) while its other two (Morehead State and Kentucky) were within 150 miles of Oxford.
