Coming off a split during the first weekend of Mid-American Conference action, Ohio is prepared to hit the road and head west for another pair of MAC contests.
The Bobcats will start the weekend Friday against archrival Miami, who was picked in the preseason coaches poll as MAC Champions.
However the RedHawks have yet to play up to that billing, entering the contest with a record of just 4-6 overall, 1-1 MAC.
But for senior goalkeeper Mattie Liston, records don’t matter in rivalry games.
“It’s always been an aspiration to beat them and I can’t honestly remember a time that we have,” Liston said. “They’re a good team and beating good teams make you feel good; beating bad teams doesn’t make you feel good, really. I’m excited for the game. They’re a big rival and they were here last year, and they kind of handed it to us a little bit, so we really owe them one.”
Ohio has not beat Miami since 2008 when it trounced the RedHawks 4-1 in Oxford.
Last season, the Bobcats lost to Miami twice by the same score of 1-0, but this year’s RedHawks team is again led offensively by last year’s First Team All-MAC selections, Katy Dolesh and Kayla Zakrzewski, who are junior midfielders.
Coach Aaron Rodgers is hoping his team continues their improvement game by game.
“We’re still in this process of learning how to win, learning how to compete,” Rodgers said. “For us, we have to be aware of the challenges that both teams bring, but we also have to really focus on ourselves and worry how we want to defend and how we want to attack. When we can continue to do that we’re going to continue to improve.”
Sunday, the Bobcats will travel farther west to Muncie, Ind. to take the pitch against Ball State (7-2-1, 2-0 MAC), which boasts the best defense in the MAC, having allowed just five goals through the first ten games.
Much of this success has to do with the impressive play of Ball State’s pair of keepers — Layne Schramm, a senior, and Brooke Dennis, a freshman, who have combined for an impressive average of 0.47 goals per game.
The Cardinals spread out their attack with five players with two or more goals so far this season.
“I think for our focus this weekend, playing two teams that I think are beatable, we need to play for 90 minutes,” Liston said. “We need to play our best for 90 minutes and we can come out with a win. Aaron has a formula and he knows what the formula is, and it will work.”
ak840511@ohiou.edu
@KovarAndrew
