While Ohio was playing its regular-season finale against No. 10 Wake Forest on Saturday, Central Michigan and Miami solidified their seeding in the Mid-American Conference Tournament with wins.
During a postgame interview, coach Neil Macmillan was asked if he heard the fourth-seeded Bobcats were going to match up with the top-seeded Chippewas at the MAC Tournament on Friday.
He already knew.
“It didn’t matter who we play. When you talk to all four teams, all of them could say that anyone could beat anyone,” Macmillan said. “It’s nice that we don’t have to play Kent on their field. Maybe in the final, but we were happy playing anyone.”
Before talking with the media, Macmillan and the Bobcats held a quick meeting in a shed near the Pruitt Field entrance, and when they came out, Ohio (5-10) already seemed focused on Central Michigan.
Despite a five-game losing streak in the middle of the season, the Bobcats won three of their final five games to end the regular season — each of which were MAC contests.
Before losing to Wake Forest on Saturday, Ohio defeated MAC opponent Missouri State 2-1 Friday to put itself in position to be placed as a higher seed for the tournament.
Sophomore Hannah Kingsbury and junior Clarissa Leickly tallied their first goals of the season during the game, and the Bobcats finished their year 4-2 in MAC play. Ohio also had the advantage in shots and in corners.
Since its 2-0 loss to Miami on Oct. 4, seven Ohio players have scored on the team’s run toward the MAC Tournament. During the preseason, Macmillan said he wanted to have multiple scorers this season, and the Bobcats have stayed true to that formula.
Many of those tallies have come from scrums in front of the net, including Kingsbury’s goal in the 26th minute against Missouri State.
“(The win) came from us working together and us passing, pulling out wide and creating space for other people to come in,” Kingsbury said. “That was a moment where we were really connecting on the field and (were) working together. When we came out, we weren’t connecting on passes, we weren’t really working together. It was more individual, and that hurt us in the long run.”
Kingsbury mentioned the win against Missouri State “felt like a loss” because the offense and defense were seeking a more dominating performance.
However, being a fourth seed doesn’t hurt the Bobcats, which will face off against a Chippewas team it already beat on the road earlier this season.
“I think we’re feeling great going into the tournament. We had a little dip in the middle of the season, but we’ve been really trending upward,” Kingsbury said. “I think we’re going in the right direction in terms of play.”
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