Ohio dropped the second match of its final home stint of the season 3-0 to Indiana on Sunday.
Despite combining for a 29 total shots over the course of the match, neither Ohio nor Indiana scored in the first half. Ohio goalkeeper Macy Lotze recorded four saves before halftime, but Ohio was unable to capitalize on her defensive effort.
The stalemate was broken after halftime, however.
In the third period, Hoosier defender Yip van Wonderen scored the first goal of the match in the 37th minute following a penalty corner. Just 42 seconds later, the Hoosiers scored again.
Ohio coach Ali Johnstone attributed the two quick goals by Indiana to trying to involve less experienced Ohio players in the match.
“Today, our focus was honestly getting a lot of different people more minutes and opportunities to play,“ Johnstone said. “So, we talked about that there will be confusion and inconsistency because we are subbing a lot. They took full advantage of a couple mistakes. We subbed too many people at one time.”
Indiana took full advantage of Ohio’s mistakes. Ohio had just nine shots total in the match and only three shots on goal while Indiana more than doubled those numbers. Though the Bobcats kept up with the Hoosiers for the first two quarters, they weren’t able to keep up in the second half.
The Bobcats’ loss of energy persisted until the end of the match. The Hoosiers piled on shots and scored a final goal in the fourth period while the Bobcats mustered just five total shots after halftime. Indiana recorded 10 shots in the fourth quarter alone.
Ohio has now been shutout for the fifth time this season. The last time was Sept. 10 against then-No. 2 Iowa.
Although Ohio struggled to retain possession and allowed 14 shots on goal, Lotze stepped up and recorded 11 saves Sunday. The sophomore surpassed her previous career high of eight saves, which she recorded against Appalachian State on April 3. Johnstone has been impressed with Lotze’s performance this season and believes her growth can be attributed to her commitment during practices.
“Macy’s growing every single day, and her effort that she put in in practice is phenomenal, so I’m not surprised,” Johnstone said. “Where she’s growing every day is that organization defensively and who needs to put pressure on and helping with that communication.”
Ohio has one match left in its regular season. It will face Longwood on Saturday at Pruitt Field, and the outcome of that match will determine whether or not Ohio reaches the postseason. Ohio is fourth in the MAC standings, and only the top four teams in the conference make the MAC Tournament. If Ohio drops its final game of the regular season, its hopes for a postseason run may be cut short.
