TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo closed out its home schedule with a 2-0 shutout over Akron in a key Mid-American Conference matchup Thursday night. Midfielders
Olivia Dault and
Grace Turski tallied for Toledo, and sophomore goalkeeper
Emma Boutorwick recorded her eighth shutout. The victory helps keep Toledo (10-4-3, 5-3-1) in the thick of the hunt for a spot in the MAC Tournament.
Toledo and Akron (1-14-1, 1-7-1 MAC) both put up stiff defenses until Dault found the back of the net to put her team up 1-0 at the 35-minute mark of the first half. The freshman took a pass from sophomore forward
Ellie Pool and sent the ball to the bottom left corner of the net behind Akron's goalie Penelope Cuirinier.
The score remained 1-0 until senior midfielder
Claire Cahalan sent a corner kick to the top of the box in perfect alignment for Turski. The sophomore headed the ball into the top right corner of the net for Toledo's second goal. Akron never seriously challenged after that.
"This was a great team win tonight. I felt like we didn't get off to the fastest start, but our players off the bench really gave us a spark," head coach
TJ Buchholz said. "I thought our defense, again, did a tremendous job keeping Akron from scoring tonight. Akron had a good attack at times, but our backline and Emma [Boutorwick] did a great job of keeping them from being dangerous.
"On the offensive side, I thought we did a good job of creating great chances tonight in front of the goal. Olivia scored a tremendous goal from deep to get us going in the first half, and Grace provided us an insurance goal on a beautiful header to put us up. I am proud of our team and their fight tonight."
Toledo's first of final two road games is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 24 against Buffalo. Kickoff is scheduled for noon at UB Stadium. The Rockets' final regular-season game is at Bowling Green on Thursday, Oct. 28.
GOALS AND KEY MOMENTS
- 35'| GOAL Ellie Pool carried the ball up the center of the field and left it at the top of the box for Olivia Dault, who sent it to the bottom left corner.
- 67'| Stephanie "Stitch" Currie's shot from the top of the box forced Cuirinier to jump and bat the ball away to keep it a one-goal game.
- 71'| GOAL Grace Turski headed the ball over the goalie's hands off a free kick by Claire Cahalan.
STATS, NOTES & NUMBERS
- Dault's goal was her sixth of the season.
- Turski registered her second goal of the season.
- Emma Boutorwick faced 10 shots and made six saves for her eighth shutout of the year.
- Toledo out-shot Akron by a 12-10 margin.