The Ohio field hockey squad drew a tough card opening the season with four consecutive road games against ranked opponents, but the Bobcats managed to pull off arguably the biggest upset in program history.
In just their second contest, the Bobcats (1-3) notched a 2-1 overtime victory against No. 7 Penn State (3-2), giving second-year coach Neil Macmillan his first win over a ranked opponent at Ohio.
We're happy to get that win in early. It is the level we can play and could've played at last year
Macmillan said.
Forward Estienne Coetzee put Ohio on the board at 28:06 in the first period and goalkeeper Jesse Martin held the Nittany Lions scoreless for more than 55 minutes before they tied it at one.
But it was forward Torrie Albini, who was last year's Mid-American Conference leader in goals (14) and points (29), who notched the winning goal at 6:19 in overtime.
It wouldn't have been a goal if it didn't start with our backs who got it up to me Albini said. It was so relieving to know that we had finally proved ourselves. We've been saying that we want to be in the position to knock out a top-ranked team and we finally did it.
The win was even more uplifting for the Bobcats, who were coming off a 6-1 loss to No. 4 Old Dominion in the season opener.
Although it was six-to-one
we played really well
Macmillan said of the first game. The last 18 to 19 minutes (of the first half) we won one-to-nothing. It was just a 10-minute period in the second half where we gave up four goals. You can't give any team
especially a team like that
all those opportunities.
But following their upset of Penn State, Ohio gave No. 19 Virginia (3-1) and No. 18 James Madison (3-1) too many opportunities as well, losing 3-1 to the Cavaliers and 3-0 to the Dukes two days later.
While the Bobcats were outscored 13-4 in their first four games, Macmillan said that their season isn't dependent upon the outcomes.
If you win the MAC
you get in the (NCAA Tournament)
he said. That's the goal. These games make you better as a team. They're important but the results aren't.
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