Ohio (2-3) ends its slate of home games with a loss in overtime against Ball State (2-4). Ohio opened the game sloppy but was able to finish strong, despite the loss.
The first quarter started with both teams' first shots being blocked. After a little bit of back and forth without a goal, Ball State’s defender, Michaela Graney put the team on the board off a penalty corner, assisted by Libby Kraus. Ohio couldn’t put any points on the board for the remainder of the quarter, ending with a 1-0 score in favor of Ball State.
With the second quarter starting, both teams’ defenses were on point preventing scores from either team. Ball State’s defense was impenetrable, as by the end of the second quarter, Ohio had three shots but made zero. Ohio could’ve scored a goal, but it was called back due to a foul.
After battling it out on either side of the field, both teams went into halftime without a score in the second quarter.
Ohio had many opportunities to score in the third quarter but couldn’t. The team finished the quarter with five penalty corners and nine shots. The hero of the quarter was Ball State’s goalie, Hannah Johnston, who had four saves in the quarter alone. Although a lot of offense was being played by Ohio, no scores came of it.
The next goal in this game wouldn’t be scored until the fourth quarter, 53 minutes into the game. Ohio finally got on the board with a score from midfielder Pauline Hartlieb, assisted by Anouk Plaehn. Ohio finally gained momentum, but it wasn’t enough to score again. The offense played great and kept the ball on Ball State’s side of the field, but couldn’t overcome Ball State’s defense, leading to a face-off in overtime.
With sudden death in effect, a score would end the game right away. Overtime started strong for Ohio, and though it was able to push the ball downfield, it couldn’t connect on any shots. These misses proved fatal for Ohio, as Ball State was able to score and end the game with a victory, the score being 2-1. The game was a defensive struggle through most of it, as both teams combined for 13 saves. The game also had a combined 13 penalty calls, with nine from Ohio and four from Ball State.
Coach Ali Johnstone was proud of her team’s effort but noticed one thing they needed to improve on during the game.
“Scoring, scoring, finishing. The circle entries are down, we got the shots down, we just need the ball to cross that little white line that we’re aiming for,” Johnstone said.
Ohio only scored once, despite having 23 shots, 11 of which were on the goal. Comparing that to Ball State's eight shots in total, five being on goal, Ohio has some work to do when it comes to putting the ball in the net.
Ohio, now holding a 2-3 record, looks to rebound from the loss with a victory in next Friday’s game against Kent State at 3 p.m.
