2021 Mid-American Conference women's soccer tournament
The 2021 Mid-American Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Mid-American Conference held from October 31 through November 7, 2021. The First Round was held at campus sites. The semifinals and finals took place at Mickey Cochrane Stadium in Bowling Green, Ohio, home of the Bowling Green Falcons, the regular season conference champions. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Bowling Green Falcons were the defending champions, and they successfully defended their title with a 3–0 win over Kent State in the final.[1][2] The title was the sixth for the Bowling Green women's soccer program and the fourth for head coach Matt Fannon.[3][4] As tournament champions, Bowling Green earned the Mid-American's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.
| 2021 Mid-American Conference women's soccer tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Division I | ||||
| Teams | 6 | ||||
| Matches | 5 | ||||
| Attendance | 2,318 | ||||
| Site | Mickey Cochrane Stadium (Semifinals and Final) Bowling Green, Ohio | ||||
| Champions | Bowling Green (6th title) | ||||
| Winning coach | Matt Fannon (4th title) | ||||
| MVP | Lacee Bethea (Bowling Green) | ||||
| Broadcast | None | ||||
| |||||
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling Green †‡y | 8 | – | 2 | – | 1 | .773 | 11 | – | 6 | – | 3 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kent State | 7 | – | 1 | – | 3 | .773 | 13 | – | 5 | – | 3 | .690 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio | 7 | – | 1 | – | 3 | .773 | 11 | – | 5 | – | 3 | .658 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buffalo | 6 | – | 2 | – | 3 | .682 | 13 | – | 4 | – | 3 | .725 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Michigan | 6 | – | 4 | – | 1 | .591 | 9 | – | 8 | – | 1 | .528 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Toledo | 5 | – | 4 | – | 2 | .545 | 10 | – | 6 | – | 4 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miami (OH) | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | .455 | 8 | – | 8 | – | 3 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ball State | 4 | – | 5 | – | 2 | .455 | 6 | – | 9 | – | 2 | .412 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Michigan | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | .364 | 6 | – | 12 | – | 0 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Illinois | 2 | – | 7 | – | 2 | .273 | 5 | – | 12 | – | 2 | .316 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Michigan | 1 | – | 8 | – | 2 | .182 | 2 | – | 13 | – | 3 | .194 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Akron | 1 | – | 9 | – | 1 | .136 | 3 | – | 15 | – | 1 | .184 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – 2021 MAC Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of December 7, 2021 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll Source:Mid-American Conference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding
Six Mid-American Conference schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record. A tiebreaker was required to determine the second and third seeds in the tournament as Ohio and Kent State finished tied in the rankings with an identical 7–1–3 record. The regular season match-up between the teams finished in a 0–0 tie on October 28, the final day of the regular season. As a second tiebreaker, conference goal differential was used. Ohio had the better goal differential and was awarded the second seed and first round bye.[5][6]
| Seed | School | Conference Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowling Green | 8–2–1 | 25 |
| 2 | Ohio | 7–1–3 | 24 |
| 3 | Kent State | 7–1–3 | 24 |
| 4 | Buffalo | 6–2–3 | 21 |
| 5 | Central Michigan | 6–4–1 | 19 |
| 6 | Toledo | 5–4–2 | 17 |
Bracket
Source:[7]
| Quarterfinals Monday, Oct. 31 | Semifinals Thursday, Nov. 4 | Final Saturday, Nov. 5 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Bowling Green | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Buffalo (a.e.t.) | 2 | 4 | Buffalo | 0 | |||||||||
| 5 | Central Michigan | 1 | 1 | Bowling Green | 3 | |||||||||
| 3 | Kent State | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Ohio | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Kent State | 4 | 3 | Kent State | 3 | |||||||||
| 6 | Toledo | 2 | ||||||||||||
Schedule
First Round
| October 31, 2021 | #4 Buffalo | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | #5 Central Michigan | Buffalo, NY |
| 1:00 p.m. EST |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: UB Stadium Attendance: 171 |
| October 31, 2021 | #3 Kent State | 4–2 | #6 Toledo | Kent, OH |
| 1:00 p.m. EST |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Dix Stadium Attendance: 215 Referee: Quinton McFarlen Assistant referees: Aaron Mitchell Brandon Klepach Fourth official: John Safar |
Semifinals
| November 4, 2021 | #1 Bowling Green | 1–0 | #4 Buffalo | Bowling Green, Ohio |
| 4:00 p.m. EST |
|
Report | Stadium: Mickey Cochrane Stadium Attendance: 487 Referee: Kevin Fikar Assistant referees: Noah Matos Michael Nickerson Fourth official: Ted Grigoriou |
| November 4, 2021 | #2 Ohio | 2–3 | #3 Kent State | Bowling Green, Ohio |
| 7:00 p.m. EST |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Mickey Cochrane Stadium Attendance: 692 Referee: Nikola Aleksic Assistant referees: Noah Hartman Sean West Fourth official: Ted Grigoriou |
Final
| November 7, 2021 | #1 Bowling Green | 3–0 | #3 Kent State | Bowling Green, Ohio |
| 1:00 p.m. EST |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Mickey Cochrane Stadium Attendance: 753 Referee: Dimitri Katsimingos Assistant referees: Adam Herges Courtney Hayworth Fourth official: Ted Grigoriou |
Statistics
Goalscorers
There were 18 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 3.6 goals per match (as of November 7, 2021).
3 goals
- Karly Hellstrom – Kent State
2 goals
- Lacee Bethea – Bowling Green
- Cameron Shedenhelm – Kent State
1 goal
- Nikki Cox – Bowling Green
- Audrey Shea – Bowling Green
- Marcy Barberic – Buffalo
- Payton Robertson – Buffalo
- Samantha Kaye-Toral – Central Michigan
- Giulia Giovinazzi – Kent State
- Siena Stamboich – Kent State
- Regan Berg – Ohio
- Madison Clayton – Ohio
- Betsy Lueck – Toledo
- Ellie Pool – Toledo
All-Tournament team
Source:[8]
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Nikki Cox | Bowling Green |
| Lacee Bethea | |
| Audrey Shea | |
| Madi Wolfbauer | |
| Cameron Shendenhelm | Kent State |
| Karly Hellstrom | |
| Giulia Giovinazzi | |
| Madison Clayton | Ohio |
| Regan Berg | |
| Payton Robertson | Buffalo |
| Kaya Schultz |
MVP in bold
References
- Loe, Brandom (April 18, 2021). "BGSU women's soccer wins third straight MAC Championship". bgfalconmedia.com. BG Falcon Media. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- "2021 Women's Soccer Championship". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- "2019 Mid-American Conference Women's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- "Matt Fannon". bgsufalcons.com. Bowling Green University. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- "Falcons Claim MAC Women's Soccer Regular Season Title". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. October 29, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- "Flashes Tie With Ohio, Enter MAC Tourney as Three-Seed". kentstatesports.com. Kent State University Athletics. October 28, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- "2021 Mid-American Conference Women's Soccer Championship Bracket" (PDF). getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- @MACSports (November 7, 2021). "The 2021 MAC Women's Soccer All-Tournament team has just been announced with Bowling Green's Lacee Bethea earning MVP honors" (Tweet) – via Twitter.