History does have a way of repeating itself ' but not if the Ohio field hockey team has anything to do with it.
At this point in the season last year, the Bobcats were 5-2 in the Mid-American Conference, the same conference record they have this year.
But the 2005 group went on to lose their last three games and lost their first game in the MAC Tournament to Miami.
History won't repeat itself as far as I'm concerned
said back Amanda Arnold. I think we're really well prepared for the next three games but anything can happen.
However, Ohio coach Neil Macmillan said he thinks of last year as completely different.
Unlike last year, not only is Ohio (8-7, 5-2 MAC) hosting the conference tournament, but its last four games are at home, a refreshing break from being on the road for three straight weeks.
You leave on a Thursday and come back Sunday with only three days in between to prepare before the next Thursday he said. That's been tough. It's nice to get back here and be able to practice a full week.
It was during that road trip when the Bobcat defense lost their three-game shutout streak, and defense is the area that Macmillan wants the team to improve on the most.
It's been something we've been working on all season
but it's really important to get that sorted out now going into the last few games
he said. We had a good streak going with no goals allowed
and then we just let it slip.
Midfielder Nikki Gnozzio said solving that is a matter of the team becoming a cohesive unit as far as on-field communication.
We just need to start making sure everything that we do starts from the back and makes its way all the way up to the front
she said. If everybody's on the same page
we can cover the whole field more productively.
There is another coincidence in that Ohio plays the same four opponents, in the same order, to finish the season for the second year in a row. However, the Bobcats are conscious of last year's poor results and are working toward different ones.
We have to do a lot of mental preparation to make sure that doesn't happen again
especially with the MAC this year and the year of upsets
Gnozzio said. We can't underestimate anybody because everybody in the MAC is playing really well.
