Akron Women's Soccer Continues Homestand Against Eastern Kentucky

Sunday, September 15

Akron, Ohio

1 PM

University of Akron

Eastern Kentucky

Akron Women's Soccer Continues Homestand Against Eastern Kentucky

September 13 | Women's Soccer

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Akron vs. Eastern Kentucky Gamenotes (PDF)

Akron (2-4-0) vs. Eastern Kentucky (1-6-0)
Sunday, Sept. 15
Akron, Ohio • FirstEnergy Stadium • 1:00 p.m.
Live Stats: GoZips.com
Watch: GoZips.com

What's Ahead
As Akron heads down the final stretch of the 2019 non-conference schedule in week five, the Zips once again take the pitch at FirstEnergy Stadium. UA is set to host Eastern Kentucky, a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, on Sunday, Sept. 15, at 1 p.m.

Scouting the Colonels
Heading into its contest in Akron, Eastern Kentucky will enter FirstEnergy Stadium with a 1-6 overall record through its first seven games of the 2019 season. The Colonel's lone victory of the campaign came against Milwaukee on a golden goal in extra time. To start the season, EKU fell in three straight matches to Ohio (1-2 OT), Chattanooga (0-1), and Oakland (1-2 OT). Since the Colonels win, EKU has dropped two consecutive games against IUPUI (0-1), Northern Kentucky (1-3), and most recently versus Kentucky (0-2).

A year ago, EKU finished the 2018 campaign .500 (8-8-4) while going 4-3-3 inside OVC play. In the annual OVC preseason poll, Eastern Kentucky was picked to place third in the OVC while receiving one first-place vote.

Four total goals have been scored by the EKU offense after six contests. The Zips defense will look to lock down the Colonels leading scorer, Kylie Thompson, who has notched a team-high three goals and six points on 11 shots and an efficient six shots on goal. EKU's fourth goal of the season came off the foot of Audrey Anderson who is tied for a team-high 11 shots. The lone assist of the season was awarded to Baylee Lanter.

In net, two players on the EKU roster have seen time as the last line of defense. Billie Clark has made four appearances in-between the posts for the Colonels and totaled 373 minutes of action. Clark has gone on to made 21 saves and allowed six goals to register a 1.45 goals-against average. In three contests, Zoe Aguirre has tallied 274 minutes, allowed five goals, made 14 saves, tallied a .737 save percentage, and a 1.64 GAA.

Series History
The Zips and Colonels are set to square off for the third time since the inaugural meeting between the Akron and Eastern Kentucky programs in 2007. UA and EKU battled one the pitch in back-to-back campaigns in 2007 and 2008 with the Zips picking up a pair of victories, 1-0 on the road and 2-1 at home.

Coaches
Eastern Kentucky: Matt Cosinuke is amidst his first season as the head coach of the Eastern Kentucky women's soccer program. Cosinuke spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Cincinnati (2014-18).

Akron: Noreen Herlihy is in her fifth season on the sidelines as the head coach of The University of Akron's women's soccer program. She owns a 22-50-12 record leading the Zips since taking over the program. Since taking over the program in 2015, Herlihy has led Akron to the Mid-American Conference postseason tournament twice and advanced to the semi-final round for the first time in program history in 2015. Herlihy has coached seven All-MAC honorees, 25 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 four straight seasons.

Zips Tidbits

The Zips roster consists of seven players from Ohio, eight from Pennsylvania, one from Kentucky, two from Germany, two from England, one from Minnesota, and one from Ireland.
The Zips roster consists of one student-athlete who is a dual-citizen 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 and four goals in her first season at Akron for a total of five collegiate goals scored.
The Zips return its starting defensive backline from 2018 including senior Ashley Amato (Pittsburgh, Pa.), junior Abigail Brown (Batavia, Ohio), junior Ryley Watt (Irwin, Pa.), and freshman Kayleigh Penton (Vermilion, Ohio). The quartet played a combined 6,774 minutes of action and aided in the Zips five shutouts.
Junior Anya Donelan (Warrington, England) competed at Monroe college for two seasons (2017-18), scored two goals and eight assists in her career. Donelan and Monroe College captured the 2018 National Junior College Athletic Association championship and went undefeated.
The six international student-athletes are the most on an Akron roster in program history.
Lucia Lobato and Aislinn Meaney are the first Irish student-athletes to compete on a Zips women's soccer squad in program history.
Seven Zips made their Akron debuts against Charlotte, including Aislinn Meaney, Vanessa Berlin, Lucia Lobato, Libby Harper, Anya Donelan, Bailee Bowers, and Emily Clopp.
Despite the two results, Akron registered 20 shots in its first two contests including nine shots on goal.
Redshirt sophomore Charley Kale scored her first career goal and the first goal of the season for the Zips against Cleveland State.
Freshman Lucia Lobato earned her first collegiate assist and registered the first assist of the season for the Zips in Akron's match with Cleveland State.
Despite the result, Akron outshot CSU, 15-9, and owned the advantage in corner kicks, 4-1.
Akron picked up its first win of the 2019 campaign against Niagara while also earning its first victory over the Purple Eagles in program history.
Senior Ashley Amato has scored a goal in back-to-back contests against Niagara and Morehead State.
Meaney scored her first Akron goal and game-winning score against the Purple Eagles.
Junior Anya Donelan notched her first Akron assist in the Zips lone goal against MSU.
Win #2 came in Youngstown, Ohio as the Zips took down Youngstown State, 1-0.
Freshman Bailee Bowers scored her first career goal and the first career game-winning goal in the Zips win over YSU.
Akron is 2-2 in its last four games and has tallied four goals by three different players in the two-week span.

Up Next
The Zips women's soccer team will conclude the non-conference portion of the 2019 campaign on Thursday, Sept. 19, at FirstEnergy Stadium. Akron plays host to visiting Robert Morris at 7 p.m. Prior to the start of the contest, the Zips will honor its senior, Ashley Amato, on senior night.