Every Friday and Sunday during the soccer season, the Bobcats and coach Stacy Strauss have two favorite teams: themselves and whoever plays Miami.
The same applies this afternoon, but Ohio is not being selfish or a bad sport. Today, it's just good business.
The Bobcats (6-7-4, 3-4-3 Mid-American Conference) have a lot at stake when they take the field against Akron today. An Ohio win coupled with a Miami loss would give the Bobcats a MAC East title, the second seed in the tournament and a first-round home game.
But the match against the Zips (6-10-1, 4-5-1 MAC) is also about survival. Ohio will clinch a spot in the MAC tournament with a win or tie.
With a loss, the team would need Miami University to tie or beat Bowling Green to reach the postseason. Bowling Green can only make the tournament with a win and an Ohio loss.
But even with postseason play on the line, don't count on the Bobcats to cheer on the RedHawks. Strauss would rather keep tradition and take matters into her own hands.
We're definitely rooting for BG
she said. That's pretty easy because it's just easy to root against Miami being that they're our rival. It's easy because we're also confident that we're going to get the win. As long as we do that we don't have to rely on anyone else to win for us to ensure that we're in the tournament.
One group the Bobcats will be relying on is their veterans. Ohio lost to Kent State 3-2 during its Senior Day last Sunday, but the team's three seniors will get a shot at redemption in their final regular-season match in Athens.
I think that they all put in a solid performance on Sunday
Strauss said. I think all of them will be able to have an impact on the game as they have all season and hopefully raise their level even more so they can carry the team.
As Ohio's travel partner, Akron played the same teams as the Bobcats each weekend. The Zips opened the season 1-4-1 against MAC West teams before making a late-season charge with three wins against MAC East opponents in the last two weeks. Strauss partially credited her squad for Akron's success.
I think it has benefitted them to play on Sunday the teams we've played on Friday
given that we've gone to overtime now four games in a row
she said. We've more than likely tired out the opposing teams.
But when the squads meet face-to-face, the energy level is sure to be high. As far as Strauss is concerned, the regular season has already ended .
We're kind of treating this as the first round of the tournament
as it is a must-win for us
she said. I think we're going in with a very positive
confident mindset and trying to build on some of the good performances that we've had.
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