Important Matchup Against Buffalo Awaits Akron Women's Soccer In Regular Season Finale

Thursday, October 25

Buffalo, NY

3 PM

University of Akron

University at Buffalo

Important Matchup Against Buffalo Awaits Akron Women's Soccer In Regular Season Finale

October 24 | Women's Soccer

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Akron vs. Buffalo Match Notes (PDF)

Akron (7-9-2, 4-5-1 MAC) vs. Buffalo (11-6-0, 5-5-0 MAC)
Thursday, Oct. 25
Buffalo, N.Y. • UB Stadium • 3 p.m.
Live Stats: GoZips.com

What's Ahead
It all comes down to the 2018 regular season finale with a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament on the line. Akron heads to Buffalo, N.Y. to close out the regular season against Buffalo on Thursday, Oct. 25. Win and the Zips are heading to the postseason. Akron can also make the league tournament with a draw or loss but would need some help from Eastern Michigan and Toledo.

Scouting the Bulls
Heading into the final game of the regular season, Buffalo stands sixth overall in the MAC standings after earning 15 points in league play (5-5-0), while going 11-6 overall. The Bulls have defeated Northern Illinois (5-0), Central Michigan (2-0), Eastern Michigan (2-1), Miami (1-0), and Toledo (1-0), while falling to Western Michigan (2-4), Kent State (2-5), Ohio (1-2), Ball State (0-1), and Bowling Green (0-5).

The Bulls rank second in the conference in points tallied (103), third in goals (32), and first in assists (39). Buffalo's top two offensive threats, Carissima Cutrona and Kaitlyn Walsh, rank fifth and 9th in goals in the conference, respectively. Cutrona has posted eight goals, eight assists, and 23 points on 32 shots, while Walsh owns six scores, two helpers, and 14 points. Next to Cutrona, Marcy Barberic has notched seven assists.

In the net for the Bulls is Emily Kelly, who in 17 starts owns an 11-6-0 record and seven shutouts. In over 1,400 minutes of action, Kelly owns a 1.41 goals-against average, has made 75 saves, allowed 23 goals, and posted a .765 save percentage. In the MAC, Kelly has made the third-most saves.

Series History
Akron and Buffalo have battled on the pitch over the past 18 seasons since 2001. In 16 matches, the Bulls holds a slight lead in the all-time series, 8-7-1, but the Zips holds the one game advantage when playing in Buffalo, N.Y., 5-4-0.

Coaches
Buffalo: Shawn Burke, in his fifth season as head coach of the Buffalo women's soccer program. Burke has led the Bulls to four straight MAC Tournament's while guided the program to its first MAC Championship in 2014. Heading into the final regular season game of 2018, Burke has compiled a 52-33-14 overall record.

Akron: Noreen Herlihy is in her fourth season on the sidelines as the head coach of The University of Akron's women's soccer program. She owns a 19-46-12 record leading the Zips since taking over the program. In her first year in charge, Herlihy and her staff led the 2015 Akron Zips to the Mid-American Conference tournament for the first time since 2009 and advanced to the semi-final round for the first time in program history. Herlihy has coached four All-MAC honorees, 21 student-athletes have been named to the Academic All-MAC team, and her team has been recognized as a Collegiate Team Academic Award winner by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) for three straight seasons.

Zips Tidbits

Ashley Amato played her freshman season as a defender before making the switch to forward as a sophomore. In the contest against Morehead State, the junior saw time at both positions.
Freyja Murray is the first student-athlete from Australia to compete on the Akron women's soccer team in program history. Murray is currently one-of-three student-athletes competing for UA that hail from "Down Under".
The Zips roster consists of two student-athletes who are dual-citizens; Angela Boyce (England) and Kat Costa (Germany).
Lexie Kolano competed for The University of Cincinnati in her freshman season before transferring to Akron for a fresh start. Kolano scored one goal in 14 games for UC.
Senior's Rachel Baughman, Shea O'Brien, Sydney Sleek, Erica Schrader, and Samara Yurchak have played in a combined 212 games over the span of the last three seasons entering 2018.
The Zips roster consists of 11 players from Ohio, eight from Pennsylvania, two from Michigan, one from Illinois, one from Missouri, and one national player from Australia.
Sophomore Lexie Kolano along with freshmen Erin McKinney, Bella Henderson, Kayleigh Penton, Sydney Worthy, Hailey Clere, Carly Pcholinsky, and Sydney Ward all made their Akron debuts against Morehead State, while Pcholinsky, McKinney, Penton, Worthy, Clere, and Ward all earned their first collegiate starts.
Rachel Baughman notched the first goal of the 2018 season for the Zips against Morehead State (8/17). It was the fifth of her career and first goal in a season opener.
Carly Pcholinsky notched her first career assist in the contest against the Eagles (8/17).
The Zips 11 shots against Morehead State are the third-most shots taken by an Akron team in a season opener in the last seven seasons.
Freyja Murray competed in her first collegiate match against Charlotte.
A trio of Zips scored their first goal of the 2018 season against Wofford; Ashley Amato, Eliese LaCourt, and Ryley Watt.
Bella Henderson earned her first collegiate victory and combined shutout against the Terriers.
Sydney Worthy is just the fifth player in program history to score three goals in a single contest.
The Zips five goals in the second half against YSU is tied for the most goals scored in a single half in program history.
The six goals scored by Akron were the most tallied in a single-game by the Zips squad since it was last done in 2008 against Pittsburgh.
Erica Schrader and Lexie Kolano registered their first goals of the 2018 season against YSU. Kolano's tally was the first of her Akron career and second of her college career, while Schrader netted her third
Ryley Watt's two assists against Youngstown State is just the fifth time in program history that a player has notched a pair of assists in a contest.
Akron set a program record in assists in a single-half against YSU registering five helpers in the second half of play. The six total assists in the contests are second-most in a single match.
The Zips tallied the second-most points in a contest against the Penguins totaling 18 (6 goals/6 assists) on the afternoon. The 15 points recorded in the second half of the match are the most points recorded in one half in program history.
Akron's 12 goals through their first five games were the most scored by the team to start a season since 2008 when the Zips scored 15.
With its two goals against Robert Morris, the Zips surpassed their goal total (14) from 2017 just eight games into the 2018 campaign.
12 different players on the Akron roster have scored a goal in 2018. The Zips had just eight goal scorers all of 2017. Ashley Amato, Rachel Baughman, Shea O'Brien, Carly Pcholinsky, and Sydney Worthy have all scored multiple goals this season compared to just two total players in 2017.
The Zips 12 goal scorers are tied for the third-most individual goal scorers across the NCAA. Akron is tied with Auburn, Florida State, Stanford, TCU, Texas A&M, and Virginia. Mercer leads the nation with 14.
At one point, Akron started six freshmen a contest this season. That is tied for the third-most newcomers to start a match in the NCAA. The Zips are tied with Georgia, while Purdue leads the nation with eight freshmen in the starting XI.
Ashley Amato is now ranked sixth in program history for most goals scored (12) and ninth overall in points earned in a career. She is three goals away from moving up to fifth overall (15) and one point away from being tied for eighth (25).
Against Robert Morris, Carly Pcholinsky scored her first and second career goal, notched her first multi-goal contest, and tallied her first game-winning score.
Lauren Lambert scored the third goal of the contest against Robert Morris which was the first score of her career.
Team Game Highs: Points (18), Goals (6), Assists (6), Shots (20), Shot% (.300), Shots On Goal (11), SOG% (.857), Saves (10), Corner Kicks (10).
Individual Game Highs: Points (6, Sydney Worthy), Goals (3, Sydney Worthy), Assists (2, Ryley Watt), Shots (5, Ashley Amato), Shots on Goal (4, Sydney Worthy), Saves (10, Erin McKinney).
Akron scored a minimum of three goals in a contest for the fourth time this season. All four earned the Zips a victory.
Shea O'Brien is a perfect 2-for-2 in penalty kicks in 2018, improving the Zips team attempts to 4-for-4.
Akron ended just three Mid-American Conference games in regulation through its eight seven contests. In that time span, the Zips played a combined 579:57 minutes of play.
Over its opponents, Akron holds a 68-to-59 advantage in corner kicks.
The Zips offense matched their season assist total from the 2017 season (13 assists) after 16 games.
Erica Schrader has bumped up one spot in the all-time assist leader list and has registered the sixth most assists in a career (9). She is one assist away from moving to number five overall.
Despite the Zips eight losses, seven of the results have been determined by just one goal.
Through 18 games this season, Akron has tallied 24 goals, which is the second-most goals in a single-season and is just four goals away from tying the most scores in a single season in Akron history, (28, 2003).
Since 2006, only five Akron teams have scored over 20 goals; 2006 (21g), 2008 (23g), 2010 (22g), 2012 (23g), 2013 (22g), and 2015 (21g).
Angela Boyce scored her first career goal in an Akron uniform, including the first game-winning goal, when the sophomore midfielder gave Akron a 2-1 win over Miami in the 88'.
The Zips have notched seven multi-goal contests in 2018. Akron is 5-1-1 when scoring more than one goal in a match.
Akron upset the top team in the MAC, Bowling Green, 1-0 on a goal in the 88th minute by senior captain, Shea O'Brien. The Falcons were 8-0-0 in league playing entering the contest.
With its consecutive wins over Miami, Bowling Green, and Toledo, the Zips tallied a three-game win streak during MAC play for the first time since 2010.
Erin McKinney registered back-to-back shutouts for the first time in her career against Bowling Green and Toledo.
McKinney is on pace to end the regular season as the league leader in total saves. This would be the second consecutive season an Akron goalkeeper has paced the MAC in season saves.
Akron's seven overall wins and four MAC victories are the most in a season for the Zips since 2011 when Akron went 7-9-2 overall (4-5-2 MAC) and made an appearance in the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals.
The most overtime games an Akron team has competed in were eight in 2007. The current Zips squad has competed in six overtime matches.
With 64 points on the season, the Zips are just five points away from tying a program-high (69) points in a single campaign.
Sydney Worthy is tied for 8th overall with teammate Ashley Amato for most goals scored in a single-season (5).

Up Next
Win and the Zips are heading to the postseason for the second time in four seasons. Akron can also make the league tournament with a draw or loss but would need some help from Eastern Michigan and Toledo.