Toledo soccer denied MAC Tournament spot, falls to Ohio and Kent State

The University of Toledo women’s soccer team has been eliminated from Mid-American Conference tournament contention after suffering a heartbreaking 2-1 loss on Friday against Ohio and a 3-1 loss against Kent State on Sunday during senior day.

The Rockets needed to finish no worse than 8th in the league to qualify for the tournament.

The Bobcats scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute breaking a nine-game losing streak against the Rockets

“There’s always those games you wouldn’t mind having back, we had many opportunities to get more goals,” said UT head coach Brad Evans. “You can’t fault the effort of Ohio though, those girls never gave up and neither did ours.”

Ohio’s Holly Harris beat an offside trap by the Rockets and found herself all alone against Toledo sophomore goalie Sam Tiongson. She took a quick dribble and fired a low shot just out of Tiongson’s reach to give OU their first lead of the day.

Despite the devastating outcome, Toledo controlled much of the match and finished with a commanding 28-9 edge in shots, including a match-high nine shots off the foot of senior Rachel MacLeod. The 2011 MAC Offensive Player of the Year was supported in the attack by sophomore Geri Siudzinski, who finished with a career-best six shots.   

Toledo found the scoreboard first, sophomore Kika Hernandez scored off a deflection when Ohio defenders tried clearing their lines. Her goal came in the 65th minute of the game and gave UT a 1-0 lead with 25 minutes left.

The lead did not last long as Ohio’s Liz Finley scored the equalizer less than two minutes later. She controlled a deep pass into Rockets territory and fired a low shot just out of the reach of a diving Tiongson along the near post from about 10 yards out in the 67th minute to tie things up 1-1.

The Rockets didn’t panic and looked poised to reclaim the lead on a shot by freshman Kiersten Johnson with 10 minutes left in regulation. Johnson made a long run down the right side and put a well struck shot on target, only to have Ohio’s keeper make another big save.

Between the posts, Tiongson was called upon to make three saves, while Ohio’s Mattie Liston finished with 13 saves in the game.

“Their goalie made a lot of great saves, there is nothing you can do about that,” Evans said. “That’s the way soccer goes sometimes.”

Ohio improved to 7-5-5 (3-3-3 MAC) while the Rockets dropped to 5-11-1 overall, 2-6-1 in the league.

On Sunday Toledo failed to get a win on senior day, falling to Kent State 3-1. The loss sealed UT’s fate and prevents them for competing in the conference tournament for the first time in nine years.

After avoiding a couple of good scoring opportunities by the Rockets, Kent State struck first on a shot by Jacklyn Dutton in the 32nd minute.

Toledo was quick to counter, as MacLeod scored her league-leading 12th goal a little over three minutes later. MacLeod made a quick turn toward the middle of the KSU goal box and fired a shot from about 12 yards out that found the near post to make the score 1-1 at the break.

Macleod’s 12 goals now puts her third for most goals scored in a season in school history.

Golden Flash Jessacca Gironda found her 12th goal of the season in the 57th minute. Gironda’s score turned out to be the game-winner.

KSU’s Megan Johnson out jumped the Rockets defenders on a corner and headed the ball to the back of the net to settle the score at 3-1 in the 62nd minute.

“I’m proud of our girls and especially our seniors,” Evans said. “It would’ve been nice to get them a win on their senior day but I’m proud of the effort we put up in this game and all season.”

Toledo will wrap up the season on the road against Northern Illinois on Thursday, Oct. 31. The Rockets will be looking to find the win column for the first time in the last four games.