With adjustments necessary and home hundreds of miles away, the Bobcats took part in an extreme makeover, road edition.
Ohio (3-3-1) opened the weekend with a tepid performance against Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) before recovering to beat Morehead State yesterday.
The Bobcats' weekend began with a disappointing 1-0 loss to IPFW. Junior forward Felicia Jones netted her third goal of the season late in the first half after coming off the bench. Jones had two of the Mastodons' three shots on goal in the game.
Ohio started slowly but recovered to hold the Mastodons (3-5-0) to four second-half shots, none of which came in the final 22 minutes.
IPFW keeper Erin Nayler also was on point. The freshman from Auckland, New Zealand stopped all five shots on target to record her first career shutout.
We struggled a little bit to defend in an organized manner
said Ohio coach Stacy Strauss. We were very disappointed with the result. We just can't allow ourselves to be put in a hole like that.
In reaction to the loss, the Bobcats had an intensive practice Saturday after arriving at Morehead State. The team practiced with an emphasis on ball movement and control under tight defensive pressure, Strauss said.
The extra practice worked, as the Bobcats beat Morehead State 4-2. Forwards Erin Schwenke and Katie Kemen scored first-half goals to give Ohio an early lead. The Bobcats had not scored before halftime all season.
Senior forward Giuleana Lopez led the counterattack for the Eagles. Lopez scored just 87 seconds into the second half to cut Ohio's lead to a goal.
After Ohio defender Rachael Goulding reestablished the two-goal edge, Lopez struck again to make the score 3-2. But Ohio midfielder Toye Famodu netted the put-away goal with eight minutes to play. The Bobcats required just seven shots on goal for their four tallies.
Our finishing was very good. We scored some great goals Strauss said.
The Bobcats now turn their focus toward the Mid-American Conference. The Bobcats were 6-3-2 in the MAC last season.
I think we've learned a lot in our non-conference season and we've progressed in certain areas
Strauss said. Friday was a bit of a setback
but the way we played (yesterday) was a good spot to be in going into conference play.
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Sports
Michael Stainbrook
