A bad second half doomed Ohio in the Mid-American Conference semifinals as it lost 5-0 to No. 25 Miami on Friday in the second meeting of the teams in six days.
The game was tied at half time, and even though Miami had nine shots to the one for Ohio (5-12, 2-4 MAC), there was still an opportunity for the Bobcats to get the upset.
The RedHawks (14-6, 6-0 MAC) made sure that an upset didn’t happen. They scored three goals in a ten-minute span of the second half before adding two more with five minutes left in the game.
It was similar to the game Sunday when Miami scored four first half goals.
All the attacking confidence Ohio had from the 4-0 win Thursday in the quarterfinals against Ball State was not carried over to Friday. The Bobcats only attempted one shot, which was was by defender Leah Warren.
Either Jillian Shive or Karynne Baker have scored in all five of Ohio wins this season. Neither of them attempted a shot in the game. They combined for 17 of the 25 goals for Ohio this season.
Ohio’s defense was under pressure the entire game. Miami had 27 shots and 12 penalty corners. It did a good job of slowing down one of the top goal scorers in the nation, Paula Portugal, outside of a penalty stroke goal.
Under coach Ali Johnstone, Ohio surpassed the win total from last year and had an improved attack, but struggled defensively, allowing five or more goals six times.
