Finals Recap
Miami won their sixth MAC championship in a row after a 3-1 win against App State.
The first few minutes of the first quarter started a little slow, with neither team getting any shots. Anna Smarrelli picked up the first shot of the game for App State, but the ball went wide and was turned over back to Miami. A minute later, Miami picked up a penalty corner, but nothing came from it. In the 10th minute of the game, Luli Rosso connected with Paula Pena Martinez to score the first goal of the game. At the end of the quarter, App State was able to gain a little offensive momentum with a shot, and then a penalty corner. The shot off the corner went wide, and the quarter ended at 1-0 in favor of Miami.
In the second quarter, App State wasted no time getting to offense, picking up a corner in the 17th minute. The shot was blocked by a defender's body, resulting in another corner. This shot went wide, but off a defender's stick so App State received the third corner. This one was once again blocked by a body, leading to the fourth corner in a row. Nothing came of this corner. After a few minutes, App State found themselves back in their circle with another corner. This one was also blocked by a defensive body, giving App State their sixth corner of the quarter. The shot was blocked, and thankfully not by a body again, to give Miami a break from the 50-yard sprints. Towards the end of the quarter, App State received their seventh corner of the quarter, which was also off a defender's body, resulting in their eighth. Despite the eight corners, Miami was able to keep App State off the board going into halftime.
Miami came out swinging, getting a shot, and then Rosso found Pena Martinez again for the second Red Hawk goal of the game. They kept the momentum with two more shots in the next two minutes. In the 38th minute, App State got a pair of corners, the first resulted in another corner and Macy McHale had a defensive save to stop the second. The rest of the quarter was relatively quiet. Madison Workman from Miami received a yellow card at 40:10 and Paula Navarro also received a yellow card for Miami at 44:04. The game was a 11v9 for a little over a minute, but App State was only able to get a wide shot during the advantage.
Miami started the final period with the same energy they started the third with. They picked up a penalty corner in the 47th minute, but Addie Clark saved the shot. Three minutes later, Pena Martinez completed a hat-trick, scoring her third of the night. App State responded quickly, with a goal from Rachel Fleig.
Despite a great offensive effort from App State in the game, they fell 1-3.
Miami won the 2022 MAC Championship and will receive the MAC's NCAA tournament berth.
Finals Preview
How they got here:
Miami went 12-7 overall and 6-1 in the MAC. 3 of their losses came in overtime, with one being the loss against Longwood in the MAC. They outscored their opponents 44-20. They averaged 15.5 shots per game. They have had 152 corners this year. They entered the tournament as the #1 seed and beat Ball State in the first round 2-0. In the game, they totaled 20 shots and did not allow Ball State to get any.
App State went 14-5 overall and 5-2 in the MAC this year. Their 2 MAC losses came against Kent State and Miami. They have not lost a game since the September 30th loss to Miami. Their three non-conference losses all ended in overtime. They outscored their opponents 57-21 and averaged 3 goals per game. They entered the tournament as the #3 seed, and upset #2 Kent State in the first round to make the finals.
Key Players:
Miami:
Claudia Negrete Garcia - Negrete Garcia is a junior midfielder from Spain. She has been mentioned in quite a few posts this season. She has 13 goals and 6 assists, with a total of 32 points. She averages 4.68 shots per game. She is 1-1 for penalty strokes this year.
Paula Pena Martinez - Pena Martinez is a junior midfield also coming from Spain. She has 13 goals this season as well, with 26 total points. She averages 3.8 shots per game.
Macy McHale - McHale is a senior from California. She leads the team in assists with 11 this year. She also has 7 defensive saves, which tied for the 4th highest in D1.
Isabelle Perese - Perese is a senior goalie from Ohio. She has only allowed 19 goals this season and has made 87 saves. her save percentage is 0.821. Her save percentage is the second highest in D1.
App State:
Friederike Stegen - Stegen is a fifth-year midfielder from Germany. She leads the team in both goals and points, with 12 goals and 30 points. She averages 1.67 points per game, which is the 24th highest in D1.
Pauline Mangold - Mangold is a senior midfielder from Germany. She has the second-most points on the team, with 22. She has 7 goals and 8 assists this season.
Carli Ciocco - Ciocco is a senior forward from New Jersey. She leads the team in assists with 13. She is tied for 14th in D1 for assists per game with 0.63. She is 1-2 for strokes this season.
Previous Matchups:
The last time these teams saw each other was back at the end of September. Pena Martinez scored once and Negrete Garcia scored twice, to put 3 goals on the board for Miami in the first quarter. Stegen scored one and Rachel Fleig scored one for App State to put 2 on the board in the second quarter. Miami won the game 3-2.
Miami leads the all-time series 11-3. Miami is on an 11-game winning streak right now, having not lost to App State since 2004. I was 1 year old when this streak started, for those of you who want to feel old.
Prediction:
Miami has an 86% chance of winning the MAC championship.
Semifinals Recap
Miami vs. Ball State
Ball State was limited to zero shots, in a Miami-dominant game.
Miami had two corners and four shots in the first quarter, but Ball State's Hannah Johnston was able to keep them off the board.
In the second, Miami had three more shots and Johnston had three more saves. Then with 1:30 left, Miami got a corner and Paula Pena Martinez scored her 13th goal of the season.
Miami opened up the third quart with a series of four shots. In the last two minutes of the quarter, Katherine Groff put another in to give them a 2-0 win.
Miami had four corners in the fourth quarter. Johnston made four more saves. After a goalie substitution for Ball State, Ally Butler also made a save.
Miami will play App State in the finals.
Kent State vs. App State
A burst of energy in the third quarter allowed App State to win a very quiet game.
The first quarter was quiet, with the only shot coming from App State's Sarah Perkins. It was saved by Kent State's Cecile van Eijck.
The second quarter started with a little bit more offense, with an App State corner that was blocked. Late in the quarter, Kent created a corner and got two shots off. Goalie Addie Clark made one save, and Allison Corey made a defensive save for App State.
In the third, App received a corner and picked up two shots that were saved by van Eijck and a defensive save from Larissa Balachick. Later in the quarter, Charlotte Bosma put App State up 1-0. Kent had some late-quarter action with two corners and a shot, but it was saved by Clark.
The fourth quarter had no offensive stats, despite Kent pulling their goalie for the last two minutes.
App State will play Miami in the finals.
Semifinals Preview
The MACtion starts on Friday, November 4th at 11:30.
The schedule is as follows:
Game 1: Miami vs. Ball State
Game 2: Kent State vs. App State
Miami vs. Ball State
The last time these two teams faced each other, Miami scored 4 goals in the fourth quarter, for a 7-0 win. Becca Kline, Jenna Kirby, and Claudia Negrete Garcia were all able to score two goals each in the game.
For the all-time record, Miami also leads, 29-17. They currently have a 13-game winning streak.
Based on the six games the two teams have played since 2019, Miami has a 96% chance of winning.
Kent State vs. App State.
After three goal-less quarters, Kent State put in 2, and App State put in 1 in the fourth, in a 2-1 win for the Golden Flashes.
App State has never beaten Kent State in the 8 times they have played each other.
There is a 70% chance based on the team's history, that Kent State will win this match.