<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=02yO7K_0uyFBrES00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=02yO7K_0uyFBrES00" width="1600" height="1066" >The sixth season under Head Coach Jeremy Groves begins at his alma materMOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The 2024-25 Central Michigan Athletics calendar kicks off with Chippewa Soccer's visit to Kentucky Thursday for its season-opener at 7:30 p.m. ET in Lexington, Ky.EXHIBITION TUNE-UP (Detroit Mercy, Aug. 8)Central Michigan unofficially opened the 2024 campaign last Thursday with a 1-0 win over Detroit Mercy, on the program's Senior Day. Cece Mernatti got right to business with the game's lone score in the 26th minute. The back line stood tall as starting keeper Allison LaPoint did not see any shots on-frame, while junior Emma Shingler only fielded a pair in over 30 minutes of work in the second half.PREVIEW (Kentucky; Aug. 15)Central Michigan and Kentucky will log their third all-time meeting Thursday in a split series that dates back to 2011. Head Coach Jeremy Groves was at the helm when the Chippewas evened the series with a 2-1 result in Lexington in 2019, the reverse of the inaugural matchup from 2011, which was played at Louisville.Coach Groves also has a 1-1 mark against his alma mater as a head coach as Murray State fell in Lexington in 2016, just two weeks before game 12 of a 33-match undefeated streak in Ohio Valley Conference regular season play.CMU has two other road matchups against current members of the SEC in its history: the Chippewas defeated Oklahoma, 3-1, in Norman, Okla. in 2008 and fell at Texas A&amp;M, 2-0, in 2012. In both cases, CMU's now-SEC opponent had yet to log a contest in SEC play as the 2012 season was the first for the Aggies and the Sooners play their first SEC contest this season against Mississippi State on Sept. 19.SEASON-OPENING WOESThe Chippewas have a streaky history with their season-openers and will be looking to break a seven-year winless skid with just one season-opening victory since 2012, a 1-5-5 mark. Only one of those five losses, Aug. 16, 2018 at Notre Dame (L, 3-1), resulted in a margin of more than one score.CMU sits at 10-10-6 all-time in season openers, featuring a seven-year winning streak from 2006-12.REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKAllison LaPoint moved into a tie for fourth all-time in single season saves (84) to conclude the 2023 season for her second appearance in the category after posting 80 saves in the reduced 2021 spring campaign. She is one of three Chippewas to have a second top-ten season in her career, joining a pair of three-time letterwinners in Kari Alexander and Zoie Reed.Her career mark stands at 187 saves, good for sixth in the CMU record book, but will need to eclipse 200 to crack the top five.POWER FOUR OPENING SLATEThe Chippewas will battle Kentucky (Aug. 15) and Texas (Sept. 1) of the Southeastern Conference, Cincinnati (Aug. 25) and TCU (Aug. 29) of the Big XII Conference as their first four contests of 2024. The Bearcats mark the home-opener for CMU, the only home contest during that stretch, in a return trip from a 1-1 draw in Cincinnati last season.CHIPPEWA HISTORY AGAINST POWER FOURSUnder the direction of Head Coach Jeremy Groves, Central Michigan has brought stiff challenges to power-conference (ACC, Big Ten, Big XII, SEC) competition, defeating his alma mater Kentucky, 2-1 in overtime, during the 2019 season while coming within a goal of both Michigan and Michigan State during the 2021 campaign. CMU also logged a 2-0 exhibition tally over Illinois in the 2019 preseason.From 2015-17, the Chippewas recorded three victories against power-conference programs, twice defeating Michigan State (2-1, 2016; 1-0, 2017) along with a 2-0 mark over Kansas State (2016). Highlighted by the 2-0 victory over Purdue in the first round of the 2009 NCAA tournament, Central Michigan has recorded 12 victories over current Power-Four programs in its 26-year history.TOUGH ONE TO CRACKAllison LaPoint was second in the MAC last season with 5.6 saves per game this season. Her total of 84 saves is also second in the MAC, though in at least two fewer appearances than any of the next five in the ranking.LaPoint tied her career-best for a single game three times in 2023 with eight saves in both matches of the MAC opening weekend against Eastern Michigan and at Miami (OH) along with the visit to Bowling Green. She posted nine contests with six or more stops.A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAYJenna Little's two-goal performance at Miami (OH) in 2023 tied her career-high for a single match, as she scored twice against Purdue Fort Wayne (Aug. 21, 2022) for Eastern Illinois in 2022, also tying her career-high of four goals in a single season.Little logged the gamewinner in both Chippewa victories last season: Purdue Fort Wayne (Sep. 10; W, 2-1) and at Miami (OH), perhaps a reminder to keep the Mastodons on the schedule as long as Jenna is on the roster, which they are again in 2024, on Sept. 11.Central Michigan's road draw with Cincinnati (Aug. 31; T, 1-1) was also powered by Little as her first CMU goal held for a tie with the newly power-conference Bearcats.RETURNING TO FORMAfter starting every match of her career through the first 35, Jaelyn Dobrowolski, the 2020-21 Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, had her season cut short through the first eight in 2022 after putting up five points and a gamewinner against Detroit Mercy. She returned to action last season against Western Michigan ending a 17-game hiatus, scoring twice over the final nine games of the season.A FAMILY TRADITIONThe Chippewas picked up a pair of sisters ahead of the 2024 season, with the additions of Ella Betzold and Maggie Van Wagnen, the younger sisters of junior Teagan Betzold and senior Libby Van Wagnen, who both transferred to CMU ahead of last season.RETURN TO THE MACJocelin Zimmerer and Claudia Muessig each chose Central Michigan in the transfer portal to stay in the Mid-American Conference ahead of the 2023 season. Zimmerer spent the previous two seasons with Miami (OH) while Muessig graduated from Northern Illinois with a three-year athletic career under her belt.The duo represented the most stable unit of an otherwise injury-riddled roster in 2023 as the midfield pair combined for 30 starts and 12 points, with Muessig starting all 16 contests.THE GROVES ERAHead Coach Jeremy Groves begins his sixth campaign at Central Michigan with a 25-37-16 record thus far, though the Chippewas had collected a winning record in each of his first three seasons before injury-plagued seasons in 2022 and 2023.Groves sits at 75-58-22 overall in his career including three double-digit win seasons at Murray State from 2014-17. No stranger to the Bluegrass State, the Englishman graduated from Kentucky in 2005 as a two-time letterwinner for the Wildcats.CHIPPEWAS ADD EIGHT FOR 2024After an incoming class of 19 players ahead of 2023, a more modest group of eight were added to the program ahead of the 2024 campaign.FreshmenElla Betzold (Essexville, Mich. / Garber)Madison Bloom (Troy, Mich. / Athens)Grace Cameron (Clio, Mich. / Flint Powers)Madelyn Schamanek (Cadillac, Mich.)Maggie Van Wagnen (Napoleon, Mich. / Napoleon)TransfersGrace Baczek (Libertyville, Ill. / Libertyville), sophomore, previously at St. BonaventureJordan Bailey (Huntington Beach, Calif. / Huntington Beach), sophomore, previously at Tenn.-MartinGabriella Sapia (Livonia, Mich. / Stevenson), junior, previously at NAIA Madonna Univ.SENIOR SQUADThe Chippewas carry a 15-player senior class, the most in NCAA I, for the 2024 campaign, and were recognized ahead of CMU's 1-0 exhibition victory over Detroit Mercy:Dani Barzowski (Prospect Heights, Ill. / Maine South)Addie Brown (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Forest Hills Northern)Brooke Carroll (Laguna Niguel, Calif. / Aliso Niguel)Jaelyn Dobrowolski (Traverse City, Mich. / TC West)Allison LaPoint (Royal Oak, Mich. / Shrine Catholic)Jenna Little (Portage, Mich. / Portage Central)Rachel Logue (Oak Hills, Calif. / Serrano)Cece Mernatti (St. Clair Shores, Mich. / Lakeview)Claudia Muessig (Paw Paw, Mich. / Paw Paw)Kerry Northcott (Cottleville, Mo. / Incarnate Word Acad.)Ashley Scesniak (Hoffman Estates, Ill. / William Fremd)Myla Stewart (Evergreen, Colo. / Evergreen)Libby Van Wagnen (Jackson, Mich. / Jackson)Lauren Walker (Essexville, Mich. / Garber)Jocelin Zimmerer (Evergreen, Colo. / Evergreen)Only five players in this group will have played their collegiate careers exclusively for Central Michigan (Brown, Dobrowolski, LaPoint, Logue and Walker). Seven were incoming transfers for the 2023 season.</div></body>

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Soccer Opens 2024 at Kentucky Thursday Night, 7:30 p.m. ET

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The 2024-25 Central Michigan Athletics calendar kicks off with Chippewa Soccer's visit to Kentucky Thursday for its season-opener at 7:30 p.m. ET in Lexington, Ky. EXHIBITION TUNE-UP (Detroit Mercy, Aug. 8) Central Michigan unofficially opened the 2024 campaign last Thursday with a 1-0 win over Detroit...