YPSILANTI, Mich. – Sophomore
Mia Leonetti and senior
Morgan Otteson netted both goals for the Toledo women's soccer team in Thursday's 2-1 win over Eastern Michigan. The victory was the Rockets' first Mid-American Conference win this season.
Toledo struck first with a goal from
Mia Leonetti, her third this season, in a traffic jam in front of the net at the 16-minute mark. Senior
Morgan Otteson, who assisted on Leonetti's goal, doubled the Rockets' lead at the 22-minute mark which UT carried into halftime. Eastern Michigan's Sophia D'Ambra netted the lone goal in the second half. The Rockets held off the Eagles for the remainder of the time to leave with a 2-1 victory.
"It feels great. We told the team this week we are done with tying with teams, and I think it was a really tough battle for us," head coach
TJ Buchholz said. "Eastern is a good team, they definitely gave us fits, and that was difficult to deal with, but I'm really proud of our defense. Eastern had a couple of really good moments in the game and we had to keep them from scoring.
Karson Hill got her first win as a collegiate goalkeeper, and she was really huge today. Our backline of
Miranda Sullivan,
Rylee Michaels,
Sissy Novak, and
Adele Stradling played 90 minutes and they were solid. They faced quite a few shots and they were able to keep going."
On the offensive side, I think
Morgan Otteson had a great game, but
Mia Leonetti just had a phenomenal game. Mia created that second goal just by letting the ball go through her to get to Morgan. I think those are the moments that we're starting to see in training and in games, and start to get more creative in the attack. That's the exciting thing for this group. They're hungry and they keep fighting, and I think they know that there is a lot of season left to play and we are going to be a tough team to beat down the road. I am proud of them and we will enjoy this tonight and get ready and focus on a good Miami team on Sunday," Buchholz said.
Goals and Key Moments
- 16'| GOAL Senior Morgan Otteson found the free ball in front of the net and sent it to sophomore Mia Leonetti, who shot the ball past Eastern Michigan's goalkeeper Rebecca Przybolo for the opening goal.
- 22'| GOAL Senior Rylee Michaels connected with Otteson who shot the ball into the bottom left of the net to push Toledo ahead 2-0.
- 48'| GOAL EMU cut its deficit to 2-1 when Arielle Fink set up Sophia D'Ambra to score the game's final goal.
Stats, Notes and Numbers
- Toledo leads 18-13-2 in the all-time history against Eastern Michigan. Last year, the Rockets and Eagles played to a 1-1 draw.
- Leonetti's goal was her third on the season, while she also recorded her second assist.
- Otteson now has 10 goals and two assists with the Rockets this season.
- Michaels collected her first collegiate assist as a Rocket.
- Thursday's win was the first collegiate win for Toledo goalkeeper Karson Hill.
Up Next
Toledo will be back home at Paul Hotmer Field on Sunday, Oct. 16 for a 1:00 p.m. matchup with Miami.