Despite returning with a strong nucleus and bringing in a bevy of young talent, the Ohio soccer team slumped out of the gate this season with a 2-1 overtime loss to Louisville and a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Wright State.
The 'Cats looked good early against Louisville scoring in the first half when midfielder Tiffany Horvath found freshman forward Jasmine Merith, who scored her first collegiate goal. The play served as an example of both the team's youth and experience.
It's exciting to have (Merith) come in and contribute and score goals
coach Stacy Strauss said.
With the energy of the new players and a lot of juniors it should be a great combination Horvath added. So far Jasmine and I are working very well.
However, the Cardinals were able to tie the game 16 minutes later, beating goalie Jess MacLean on a penalty kick. The new face in goal for Ohio had three saves in her first collegiate start. After both sides went scoreless for the remainder of regulation, the Cardinals were able to score just 55 seconds into the overtime when Lindsey Boling beat MacLean for the goal.
Against Wright State, the Bobcats suffered a major letdown following the emotional contest in Louisville.
Horvath scored the lone goal for Ohio, beating a Wright State defender and lacing the ball past diving goalkeeper Steph Comisar for the score. The defense was lacking, however, as the Bobcats gave up four goals and dropped the home opener.
MacLean answered a huge off-season question mark by nabbing the starting spot in goal and ended a preseason's worth of speculation by chalking up two saves in the losing effort.
I think flat is an understatement Strauss said. We completely failed to perform. It was a letdown in our perceived level of the opponent.
Despite the slow start, a week off between games should give the 'Cats time to fine tune their play before today's match against Robert Morris, a team they haven't seen since 2003 when they beat the Colonials 4-0 in Athens.
Obviously
it's frustrating starting off like last season
Horvath said. We expect a win this week.
The last week has been about getting back to basics for Ohio, as the team will be desperately looking for some consistency tonight.
We've took some steps back in order to go forward
Strauss said. We looked at the technical aspects
like the shape of our defense. We're most concerned about consistency. We haven't put together two strong performances.
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