RedHawks fall to WMU in MAC Championship, 2-0

By Harrison Schwarz, staff writer

After beating University of Akron 1-0 in the semifinals on Friday, the Miami University women's soccer team lost to Western Michigan University 2-0 in the finals of the Mid-American Conference Championship game. MU finishes the season 11-8-2 and 6-4-1 in the MAC.

Head coach Bobby Kramig was proud of his team for making it as far as they did.

"Making it to the MAC Championship speaks very, very well to the character of our kids," Kramig said. "This team went through some really tough spells this year. They kept fighting, bounced back and stayed resilient. Through hard work and perseverance, they were able to force themselves into the final. It would have been great to pull the game off today, but Western is a really good team. We wish them well."

The RedHawks failed to generate much offense, totaling just three shots to Western Michigan's 11. In the first half, MU had zero shots, but its stout defense held the Broncos scoreless.

Freshman midfielder Ashley Weathers gave Miami its first scoring opportunity when she took a shot from outside the box, but the Broncos goalie was well-positioned and made the save. Sophomore forward Kat Zalar had a good shot a few minutes later when she received a cross on the left side of the box, but her shot went wide.

Western Michigan broke the tie in the 58th minute when junior midfielder Liz Abro fired a shot that bounced off junior goalie Vic Maniaci. Teammate sophomore forward Emma Kahn picked up the rebound right in front of the net and tapped the ball into the goal, putting the Broncos up 1-0.

Western Michigan picked up a second goal in the 77th minute when a corner kick ricocheted off the midsection of senior forward Irene Young and bounced into the goal.

Kramig told his team after the game to keep their heads high.

"After the game I told them that I was proud of them," Kramig said. "That despite the way it ended that they had a great season. They had done absolutely everything we had asked of them. It's always hard looking on to the seniors and knowing that you won't get to see them play anymore. We feel really good about the effort they put into this."

Team captain and senior midfielder Haley Walter echoed her coach's sentiments and knows her team accomplished much this season.

"The last two years, we have been bumped out unexpectedly early, and this year we finally made it," Walter said. "We didn't get the result that we would have liked. Western played a great game and we still accomplished a lot of what we set out to do and the goals we had at the beginning of the season."

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

Walter and the three other seniors won't be back next season, but Kramig says he has a lot to look forward to for next season.

"We're graduating some very important players this year," Kramig said. "The seniors have made huge impacts. We have some talented members of our team coming back and I have no doubt we will field a competitive team next year."