The Ohio soccer team kicked off its 2012 season with a 2-0 exhibition win against Eastern Kentucky Sunday.
The starting 11 for Ohio, which didn’t wear numbers on their jerseys, included two freshman and as many transfer students — made for a new look on the pitch.
Ohio coach Stacy Strauss said she was pleased with her team’s first game, especially so because of the team's irregular roster. She said she that thought the Bobcats' first 15 minutes were good, they controlled the ball poorly for the majority of the first half before scoring twice in the second.
“I thought we did a number of things very well in the second half,” Strauss said. “Specifically we had some good combination play in the final third and two quality goals as a result and for a first game I thought we were very organized defensively.”
The Bobcats had one shot on goal, and both teams had a pair corner kicks in the first half.
Sophomore Liz Finley broke the tie with 16:30 remaining off a corner kick deflected her way by junior Maggie Murnane. Senior Cathryn Rogers netted the second goal of the game for the Bobcats with a one-timer from eight yards out six minutes later.
Murnane said the team began the second half with a new approach, which is a byproduct the Bobcats’ new attitude.
“Our team doesn’t like to lose,” Murnane said. “We definitely have this new energy of trying to score and knowing that we can come out with energy we can come out as good as we can get and I think it really showed in the second half.”
Ohio has three keepers on the roster, and sophomores Rachel Fryan and Nicole Amari each made a case to claim the starting position by posting clean sheets in the first and second half, respectively. Strauss said the keepers’ play was good and they will evaluate both Fryan and Amari on a game-by-game basis.
“They were solid,” Strauss said. “I thought both of them communicated very well and they were sure handed in saves when they needed to be.”
Murnane said she thought she had a good feeling about the game before the match.
“I knew we were going to beat EKU,” Murnane said. “I knew we all had that mindset that we were sick of playing each other in preseason and we were ready to go out there and give it our all, so I don’t want to say I saw it coming but I know that we were going to get it done.”
The Colonels outshot Ohio 8-6, and Rodgers had half Ohio’s shots on goal.
Ohio will start its regular season on the road Friday against Wright State.
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