The injury bug has bitten the Bobcats again.
Midfielder Ainsley Bodi is the latest to sustain an injury. She left in the first half of Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Miami with an apparent lower-body injury and did not return.
Coach Stacy Strauss said she did not know how long Bodi will be out, but said that it doesn't look good.
Bodi is another on a long list of injured Bobcats this season.
Forward Amy Lower did not play in either of the games this weekend. Forward Jasmine Merith sat out Friday's game before returning to action Sunday. Rachael Goulding played limited minutes in both games as she continues to fight an injury.
Strauss said earlier in the week that the team could not afford any more injuries. With three games left in the regular season, the Bobcats could use a healthy team for the final stretch.
That just puts more pressure on us to keep going at it and keep staying healthy and keep fighting
defender Sarah Brown said.
BENCH BOOST
Ohio has turned to its bench players to step up as many players are missing because of injury.
Forward Laura Dieter is one of them. Her goal Friday was the first of her career. Dieter was active in both games over the weekend, tallying two shots.
It was great to have Laura Dieter get the goal I thought it was well-earned Strauss said.
Kim Nordtveit, Cathryn Rogers and Joana Bielefeld have also stepped into larger roles to replace injured players.
Because we have so many injuries
our entire bench needs to come on the field strong right away
Dieter said.
SIZE STRUGGLES
Miami's size was a problem on Sunday. The RedHawks have five players on their roster who are 5-foot-8 or taller, which gave them an advantage on balls in the air.
We didn't put the ball down on the ground and move it around quite enough to get in behind them
Strauss said. It became a game where they could dominate a little bit physically.
Brown said she is not worried about the team's size being a problem down the stretch.
Most of the teams that play against us have bigger size than us
Brown said. We just have to keep the ball on the ground.
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