Ohio took on Central Michigan and Ball State this week, going 1-1 after a home loss Sunday. Here's everything you need to know about this week's games:
Thursday
The Bobcats traveled to Mount Pleasant, Michigan Thursday to try to get a much-needed win against the Chippewas. Redshirt senior Haley Miller got the scoring started for both teams as she netted her second goal of the season with an assist from senior Regan Berg in the seventh minute.
Central Michigan responded in the 19th minute after the first goal of the season for junior Elizabeth Chlystun. Miller came to the rescue once again for the Bobcats netting her second goal of the game just a minute later on an assist from graduate student Abby Townsend. This moves Townsend one step closer to having the all-time program assist record.
The Bobcat offense continued from there as just 35 seconds into the second half, Berg scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season, putting the Bobcats in a comfortable position, up 3-1. The final bit of offense came from junior Shae Robertson's fourth goal of the season from senior defender Ella Bianco's first assist of the season.
This was Ohio's second game this season where it scored four goals or more, the first being the record-breaking win against VMI.
Sunday
After the win earlier in the week and with the Bobcats returning home, they hoped to try to steal a win from the team that is second in the MAC. The Cardinals entered the game 5-4-5 overall and 4-1-2 in the MAC.
Ball State took an early lead against Ohio as Grace Alsop scored her first goal of the season. It continued its strong defensive performance this season, limiting Ohio's offense to only three shots in the first half.
Ball State grew its lead early in the second half as Lexi Fraley notched her fourth goal of the season with an assist from Abby Elgert. Ohio fought back as in the 54th minute as Townsend scored a goal off of a Berg assist. Those two have had a strong impact on the offense this season as they rank first and second on the team in both goals and assists.
Two late yellow cards told the story of the aggressiveness Ohio played with, but it didn't pay off as the game finished at the score of 2-1.
"I think we were feeling good after a good game at Central Michigan on Thursday," head coach Aaron Rodgers said. "But obviously knowing that Ball State's a good team having a good season, towards the top of the table, it was going to be a battle."
Ohio has also had to contend with several injuries to the starting lineup this season, and that impacted it on Sunday.
"It happens you know, it's sport and every team has to deal with injuries," Rodgers said. "We've had people step up, people move into different positions and slide around, but it definitely hurts to lost quality players like we have."
Ohio takes on Toledo on the road this Thursday then will return home to take on Western Michigan.
