Ohio plays its second home game of the season Friday against Robert Morris and it represents the Bobcats best chance at snatching its first win.
Ohio has had a tumultuous season to this point.
The Bobcats have many new players in their starting lineup, and the difficulty in finding cohesion and rhythm is exemplified by the 13 goals they've given up in five games — they've only scored two.
Coming off a 3-0 loss to Kentucky this past Sunday, one of the top programs in the country, coach Aaron Rodgers wants his team to keep building on the progress that they have been making.
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"I think we need to move forward with some confidence," Rodgers said. "We can compete with the best, and we can score great goals and compete as hard as we can on Friday night."
Ohio faces one-win Robert Morris on Friday, and while Ohio's defense has received a lot of criticism, the back line seems to have found some consistency with sophomore Kelley Zebrowski moving from forward to right back and sophomore Celeste Fushimi-Karns and senior Grace Campbell striking up a solid partnership in central defense.
In addition, freshman Rianna Reese has been a revelation at left back, and the back line looks to be in pretty good shape heading into conference season.
"They're doing well," Rodgers said of his young back line. "It's going to take some time to grow together and gel together but they're all very great athletes. So they're gonna be able to adapt very quickly."
The next worry comes at goalkeeper.
Typical starter sophomore Vanessa Cordoba hurt her back in a collision during the Kentucky game, which opens a spot for freshman Erin Beurket to stake her claim as a starter. Cordoba is back in practice but it seems Beurket will have a game or two to try and impress Rodgers, who's a former goalkeeper himself.
Both goalkeepers have been splitting time, with Rodgers opting to replace one with the other after half time, but with Beurket all but certain to start, the next worry comes in the attack.
Offense has been the Bobcats' biggest weakness this season, with Rodgers' typical style of possession-based attack replaced with mishit passes and long, unthreatening shots fired directly at the opposing goalkeeper.
Junior Alexis Milesky is one of Ohio's most dangerous options in the attack but she rarely gets the ball closer than 30 yards from goal. The same goes for redshirt junior Carly Manso and sophomore Hannah Jaggers.
Milesky and Jaggers provide pace going forward while Manso possess a good deal of strength in holding the ball up and delivering dangerous shots into the box.
Of course, they can't do any of this if the midfielders and fullbacks can't get them the ball, and therein lies the problem.
If players like sophomore Megan Niehbuhr and freshman Stephanie Rowland can take advantage of a leaky Colonels team, then the Bobcats may leave Chessa Field with their first win of the season.
@KellenBecoats
kb749012@ohio.edu
