Throughout the Bobcats’ past few wins, the offense had stolen the show by outscoring opponents 10-3, but in the road against Youngstown State on Friday, the high-scoring offense slowed its pace.
However, this was not a problem for Bobcats, which defeated the Penguins 1-0 to win their fourth consecutive game.
The Bobcats (4-2-1) came out slowly as they only managed to attempt two shots during the first half, despite entering the day averaging 14 shots per game. Slow starts have been Ohio’s style lately struggling to gain control of the game.
However, when the second half begins, Ohio becomes a new team by dictating play and putting games away late.
The game was anyone’s to take. After 45 minutes, there were no scores in the first half, which was relatively uneventful, but once again, the Bobcats came out of halftime ready to dominate.
Ohio came out firing in the second half, as it attempted 10 shots, while Youngstown State only managed to attempt four.
“They didn’t give you much space to play through we tried to just keep forcing the ball up the middle, and it was one of the things I talked over at halftime,” Ohio Coach Aaron Rodgers said. “We needed to spread the ball wide and spread out their shape a little bit so we could get some seams to play through. We did that and it helped out a lot to get us more opportunities to get a goal.”
Senior goalie Mattie Liston turned away each of the four shots and finished the contest five total saves to give the Bobcats their first shutout of the season, as well as Rodgers’ first of his career.
“For us to get that shutout we knew was important for us. It should give us a lot of confidence defensively,” Rodgers said. “I think offensively we’ve got confidence over the past three to four games, so to pair that with a shutout means good things for us going forward.”
The lone goal of the game came off a corner from junior Tonya Frasik to classmate Liz Finley in the 66’ minute. The ball rebounded to Finley in the box and she put it away for her second goal of the season.
Frasik has recorded an assist in each of the past three games from the corner spot. Prior to those games, the Bobcats had failed to score from a corner. With Friday’s victory, the Bobcats also improved to 3-0 on the road this season.
“Even with the assists (Frasik) had with the corner kicks, she led our team in shots against Youngstown,” said Rodgers. “This is the kind of team that I want to have and our right back was leading our team in shots. Credit to her for having the mentality to adjust to a new position and the team for executing tactically what we want to do.”
Ohio will next travel to Cleveland State on September 20th for the Bobcats’ final game before beginning Mid-American Conference play.
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