Women's Soccer Back In Action Against Ohio and Kent State

Thursday, October 4

Athens, OH

4 PM

University of Akron

Ohio University

Women's Soccer Back In Action Against Ohio and Kent State

October 03 | Women's Soccer

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Akron vs. Ohio Match Notes (PDF)

Akron (4-7-1, 1-3-0 MAC) vs. Ohio (4-5-2, 2-1-1 MAC)
Thursday, Oct. 4
Athens, Ohio • 4 p.m.
Live Stats: GoZips.com
Watch: GoZips.com

Akron vs. Kent State Match Notes (PDF)

Akron (4-7-1, 1-3-0 MAC) vs. Kent State (6-5-1, 2-2-0 MAC)
Sunday, Oct. 7
FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field • 1 p.m.
Live Stats: GoZips.com
Watch: ESPN

What's Ahead
A pair of Mid-American Conference matches are slated for this week as the Zips continue MACtion with a midweek road contest and an afternoon tilt at home on Cub Cadet Field. Akron women's soccer travels to Athens, Ohio, on Thursday, Oct. 4 to take on Ohio at 4 p.m., before returning to FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 7 to square off against cross-town rival, Kent State, in the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center Wagon Wheel Challenge. The contest between the Zips and Golden Flashes can be seen on ESPN with Dave Bacon on the call (Play-by-Play).

Scouting the Bobcats
Ohio is currently riding a three-game unbeaten streak heading into its contest against Akron and holds a 2-1-1 MAC record and 4-5-2 overall record. In its last three contests, the Bobcats have defeated Eastern Michigan (2-1) and Miami (1-0), while playing to a draw against Ball State (1-1).

Twelve goals have been scored by the Ohio offense through its first 11 contests. Abby Townsend leads the pack of Bobcats in the goal category scoring four goals on 26 shots, while Sarina Dirrig, Madelyn Kah, and Alivia Milesky have notched two goals each on a combined 52 shots.

Sydney Malham and Erin Beurket have split duties in the net for the Bobcats. Beurket (0-3-0) has started four games, given up eight goals, made 22 saves, and tallied a 1.90 goals against average. Malham (3-2-1) has garnered 29 saves, allowed seven goals, posted an .806 save percentage, and a 0.94 goals against average.

Scouting the Golden Flashes
With an even, 2-2-0 (.500) record inside Mid-American Conference play, Kent State stands sixth overall in the MAC standings through four games, while owning a 6-5-1 overall record. The Golden Flashes opened league play by dropping a pair of contests to Eastern Michigan (0-2) and Central Michigan (1-2) before winning two straight versus Ball State (1-0) and Miami (4-1).

Vital Kats paces the KSU offensive efforts in 12 games notching a team-high five goals and six assists for 16 points. The quarter of Maddie Holmes, Isabelle Mihail, Khyla Porter, and Yasmine Hall have tallied a combined 11 goals in 2018.

Faith O'Neill (4-4-1) has started the last three contests in net for the Golden Flashes. In 283 minutes of work, O'Neill owns a .159 goals against average, made six saves, allowed five goals, and won two straight matches. In three starts, Ashleah McDonald is 2-1-0, made six saves, and given up five goals.

Series History
In 16 meetings between the Zips and Bobcats in program history since 2001, Akron is 4-11-1 against Ohio.

The rivalry between Kent State and Akron is slated to square off for the 17th time in program history. Heading into the match, the Golden Flashes hold the all-time series advantage, 13-3-0.

Coaches
Ohio: Aaron Rodgers, in his fifth season at the helm of the Ohio soccer program, owns a 28-52-6 overall record. Prior to taking over the program, Rodgers was an assistant coach on the staff at Kentucky.

Kent State: Rob Marinaro is amidst his 18th season as head coach of the Golden Flashes women's soccer team. One of the longest-tenured coaches in the MAC has the fourth-most wins in program history owning a 171-136-38 overall record and a 100-76-18 MAC 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 16-44-11 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 12 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 are 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's 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.
The Zips offense is two assists away from matching their season totals from the 2017 season (13 assists).
11 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 two total players in 2017.
The Zips 11 goal scorers are tied for the fourth-most individual goal scorers across the NCAA. Akron is tied with Fairfield, Illinois, North Dakota, and North Florida. 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 freshman 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).
Erica Schrader has bumped up one spot in the all-time assist leader list and has registered the sixth most assists in a career (8). She is two assists away from moving to number five overall.
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.
In the NCAA, Akron ranks 43rd in shot accuracy (.534), 47th in saves per game (5.90), 57th in scoring offense (2.00 G/game), T-60th in goals (20), and 95th in points per game (5.10).
Team Game Highs: Points (18), Goals (6), Assists (6), Shots (20), Shot% (.300), Shots On Goal (11), SOG% (.800), 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.
Despite the Zips five losses, four of the results have been determined by just one goal.
Heading into the contests against Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan, Akron is 1-1-1 at FirstEnergy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field.
Through the first ten games of the season, Akron has tallied 20 goals, which is just eight goals away from tying most scores in a single season in Akron history. Since 2006, only five Akron teams have scored over 20 goals; 2006 (21g), 2008 (23g), 2010 (22g), 2012 (23g), 2013 (22g), and 2015 (21g).
Shea O'Brien is a perfect 2-for-2 in penalty kicks in 2018, improving the Zips team attempts to 4-for-4.

Up Next
Akron hits the road for a two-game road trip where the Zips head to Muncie, Ind., and Oxford, Ohio for the fourth weekend of MAC play. On Friday, Oct. 12, Akron squares off against Ball State at 4 p.m., followed by a contest with Miami on Sunday, Oct. 15, at 1 p.m.