KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Ashley Scesniak scored in the fifth minute and Central Michigan made it stand on Thursday as the Chippewas downed rival Western Michigan, 1-0, in a Mid-American Conference soccer game at the WMU Soccer Complex.
It was the first MAC win of the season for the Chippewas, who snapped a six-game winless streak.
“We’ve kind of been knocking on the door the last two or three weeks with how we’ve competed and how we’ve worked, and things have just kind of gone against us,” said the CMU coach. Jeremy Groveswhose team improved to 2-8-2, 1-3-1 MAC.
“We talked to (our players) about chipping away and to keep working hard and sooner or later things are going to turn around. We have a great set of young people who show up every day and work hard. I’m just really happy for them; they deserve this. Proud of the group.”
Scesniak, a sophomore transfer from Southern Illinois, scored her first goal as a Chippewa at the 4:58 mark. Junior Matilda Melin notched the assist, the first of her career.
“I think getting the early goal helped us settle down a little bit and gave us a little bit more belief and confidence,” Groves said. “It’s huge. I think pretty much every game, apart from Detroit, we’ve been down and we’ve had to try and fight our way back.”
The CMU defense made the one goal stand as a freshman Emma Shingler collected three saves in posting her first career shutout.
“It’s been, at times, the easy things that (Shingler has) been struggling with,” Groves said. “Obviously being so young, it’s probably a little bit nerves and stuff like that; but now she’s got more games under her belt.
“Today she did the simple things really well. She didn’t really have to make a big save, but everything else was good. Her kick-in was good, her communication was good, and her hand work was good, so I feel like we’re starting to turn a corner now with our young players. They’re stepping up and doing a good job.”
The Broncos (2-5-5, 2-1-2) outshot the Chippewas, 13-7. CMU put four shots on goal to Western’s three.
Groves said the Chippewa strikers, Melin, Dolce Villaflor and Elizabeth Chlystun “helped relieve a lot of the pressure off our backs today. In the midfield I felt we, for the most part, dominated the whole game.
“The second half we totally shut them down from any dangerous opportunities that they had.”
The Chippewas are set to entertain Toledo in a MAC game on Sunday (1 pm) at the CMU Soccer/Lacrosse Complex. The Rockets took a 1-6-4, 0-2-2 record into a home league match with Ball State on Thursday night.