Soccer wins twice as sophomores come up clutch over weekend
The Central Michigan soccer team has played in three overtime games since Sept. 30 — more than 400 minutes of soccer.
The team's last game that ended in regulation was a 3-0 win against Toledo on Thursday.
On Sunday against Bowling Green, the Chippewa’s found themselves down by one goal with little time remaining, but CMU got the equalizer goal from the nation's second-ranked goal scorer, Alexis Pelafas.
The sophomore forward, Pelafas, scored her 13th goal of the season in the 87th minute to send the Chippewas and Falcons to overtime. Pelafas later assisted her fellow sophomore Madison Costner for the game-winning goal with 10 seconds remaining in overtime.
The Chippewas won 2-1 to improve its record to 12-1-1 overall this season.
With 13 goals, Pelafas is tied for second in the NCAA with Stephanie Ribeiro of University of Connecticut. The pair trail behind Brigham Young's Ashley Hatch by two goals.
“Im just doing my job out there and trying to make the most of my minutes,” Pelafas said afters Thursday's win at Toledo.
Costner, who was the hero on Sunday, has also scored her fair share of big goals, including two on Thursday and the game winner on Sunday. She has four this season.
“We’ve been in these situations before,” Costner said. “Having to comeback is something were used to. We just knew we had work to get done by finishing our shots and we finished on the ones that counted.”
Coach Peter McGahey said he believes wins like the one on Sunday can build momentum for the team moving forward.
“We are now starting to build some momentum,” McGahey said. “We started a three game home stand with a good performance and wrapped up Homecoming with a (another) good performance. These small results and small moments really build confidence as you move along in the season.”
CMU will play two home games this week to complete a three game home stand. The Chippewas host Kent State (10-1, 6-0 MAC) at 6 p.m. on Friday and Ohio (3-9-1, 1-5 MAC) at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The Chippewas trail Ball State (10-2-2, 5-0-1 MAC) by one game for first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
