The Ohio soccer team missed an opportunity to assume command of the Mid-American Conference as it was only able to draw a split this weekend, defeating Bowling Green 3-0 Friday before falling to Toledo 3-0 yesterday.
Ohio coach Stacy Strauss said the Bobcats (6-7, 4-2 MAC) were never able to get in gear against Toledo (5-6-3, 4-1-1 MAC).
We succumbed to their pressure
she said. They high-pressured us all over the field and we didn't really respond very well to that.
The speedy Rockets took advantage of a few Ohio defensive breakdowns in order to tally their goals.
At the 7:14 mark Ohio keeper Dominique Wright came out to make a play on the ball and wasn't able to handle it, allowing Toledo forward Laura Mecklenborg to put the ball in the empty net and give the Rockets their first goal.
Another miscue at the 67:17 mark allowed forward Ashley Gerwin to notch the third goal and send a shot over keeper Jess MacLean, who was out of position after coming out of the box to make a stop on the previous play.
Strauss said the performance shed light on a few things the 'Cats need to perfect.
We need to work on our organization and communication between our goalkeepers and our defenders she said. I thought we did a poor job of recognizing when they had players running in or when our backs had players on their backs.
Defender Mary McPhail said the defensive letdown was something the 'Cats just couldn't get past mentally.
Goals are going to get scored
she said. It's going to happen. We just need to bounce back and get better. We didn't do that today.
The tables were turned Friday when it seemed Ohio could do no wrong. Strauss said she felt the 'Cats were able to take what the Falcons (6-8, 3-3 MAC) gave them.
We made the most of our chances
she said. Certainly we had the run of the play
but we didn't have a whole lot of dangerous chances. Of those that we did we made the most of them.
Wright, who combined with MacLean for the shutout, said she felt the 'Cats attitude propelled them to Friday's victory.
We come out hard and we come out to win
she said. We just stayed composed in this game. They gave us a few mistakes and we punished them for it.
Forward Courtney Mink kicked off the scoring by taking a Tiffany Horvath assist and floating the ball over Falcon keeper Tiffany Hansen at the 15:19 mark. Thirteen minutes later, Horvath booted a shot from the top of the box and beat Hansen again. Forward Amy Lower capped off the scoring at the 31:50 mark when she headed in a ball fed from forward Lindsey Price, who was streaking down the sideline.
17
Archives
Jess Mosser
