Sophomore midfielder Rachel Chaney (25) goes up for a header against Kent State’s Stephanie Haugh (3) in WMU's match up against Kent State. Katrina Reed/Western Herald
Tyler Pease
Sports Reporter
The Bronco women’s soccer team played their final two home games of the regular season over the weekend. In the first they faced off with Kent State. For the second they hosted Ohio.
In the Friday game, the Broncos fell to Kent State by a final score of 1-0. Despite only a one goal differential on the scoreboard, the game was offensively controlled by Kent State who outshot Western Michigan 13-5. The Broncos had only one shot on goal the entire game, which was stretched into overtime.
Kent State was efficient with their shot. They notched seven shots on net, spreading them out fairly evenly over the course of the game with five in the first half, six in the second, and two more in overtime. The Broncos lost the shot battle in every half, with only one shot in the first half, three in the second and one in overtime.
The only goal of the match came with only 11 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, the 100th minute of the game, on a corner kick. Madison Helterbran scored for Kent State, assisted by Jaclyn Dutton.
The Sunday match was senior day for five Western Michigan players, who were honored before the game. However, that was not the only abnormality of the match.
Due to a rainy weekend, the main field was rendered unplayable, and the match was moved to the practice field. After the game did get underway, there was rain on and off during the scoreless first half. In the second half, rain struck the field in torrents, popping up from what had been a fairly gentle sprinkle. It sent spectators, players, and officials all sprinting for their vehicles and the match was called before it became on official match. (A match must go 70 out of the possible 90 minutes before it can be called official)
According to WMU athletics, there will be no makeup game.
The Bronco offense has struggled mightily this season. Discounting their cancelled match (in which they did not score), they have scored only one time in their last four matches and only twice in the last 10. The last game they scored multiple goals was Sept. 2 against Illinois State. They have scored a total of 12 in 15 matches this season. For comparison, last year’s team through 15 matches had 22 goals, and they only went scoreless in two matches the entire regular season.
With the conclusion of the weekend, the Bronco’s record stands at 5-7-3, with a conference mark of 1-3-3. The Broncos will have three more matches in the regular season, all of them on the road. The first match will be Friday, Oct. 19 against Akron. Then Sunday, Oct. 21 against Buffalo before they close out the season Thursday, Oct. 25 against Eastern Michigan.
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