The Ohio Bobcats (2-4-1) traveled to Bloomington, Indiana, to take on the Indiana Hoosiers (3-2-1), where they came up short, losing 1-0. The Bobcats looked to continue their success after a tie to Northern Kentucky on Thursday.
The first half started with back-and-forth momentum, starting with Indiana’s junior Kennedy Neighbors placing a shot bottom left that senior Celeste Sloma saved in the 11th minute.
The save from Sloma was huge allowing Ohio’s junior forward Jaimason Brooker to fire back with a shot that missed left.
The teams continued to fight back and forth for position until the 25th minute, with another missed shot by Neighbors after an aggressive battle for possession.
Senior midfielder Hailey Jeng answered with a shot of her own that just sailed over the post in the 35th minute.
A costly foul by the Bobcats in the 36th minute set up Indiana for the game’s lone goal on a penalty from senior defender Abbey Iler. The Bobcats looked to answer back in the 39th minute with a shot that missed high from sophomore forward Sania Dearing. The first half ended with the Bobcats being outshot 4-3 and down 1-0.
The second half saw an offensive explosion by both teams, as Indiana outshot the Bobcats 19-9. Indiana constantly put pressure on the Bobcats, including six shots between the 51st and 55th minutes. However, the Bobcats placed five shots on goal despite all of them being saved by Indiana’s graduate student goalkeeper Sally Rainey.
Rainey’s remarkable play proved enough as the Bobcats fell 1-0 to the Hoosiers. Sloma continued to shut down Indiana’s momentum, including an impressive clean sheet in the second half with seven saves. Brooker led the team with three shots, including one on goal. Both Jeng and junior forward Anna Burchett placed two shots, and one on goal. Burchett continues to be the driving attacking force for the team with a team-leading 18 shots and six shots on goal.
The Bobcats look to bounce back on the road Sunday, Sept. 14, in Mount Pleasant, Michigan as they will start off conference play against Central Michigan at 1 p.m.
