Ohio’s men’s club soccer team is taking to the Mill Fields on South Green this Friday for its Homecoming game against the Wright State Raiders at 7 p.m.
The men’s club soccer team plays in the United States College Club Soccer league. In that league, Ohio plays in the Heartland Division with seven other Ohio college club teams.
One team in the Heartland Division with the Bobcats is the No. 9-ranked Ohio State University Buckeyes. Just two weeks ago, the Buckeyes came to Ohio University ranked seventh in the nation. The Bobcats fought them to the wire and battled the Buckeyes to a 1-1 tie while forcing Ohio State to equalize late to avoid a loss.
“I told them, if we could outwork them and outcompete them, we can beat their talent,” head coach Ash Allanson said about the mindset going into the game. “My comment before the game was ‘hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.’”
According to Allanson, several players were dejected and heartbroken after the tie with Ohio State, with the win so close despite being big underdogs.
“There were mixed emotions,” Allanson said. “The way the game went and how well we played, it was heartbreaking that we couldn’t get over the hump and win. But there was also a proud feeling that we did something incredible by competing with the seventh-ranked team in the country.”
The Bobcats have leaned into that underdog mentality created after the Ohio State game to motivate them down the stretch to close out the season.
Allanson believes being at home this week helps his team against Wright State because of the Mill Fields' rugged and uneven terrain that throws opposing teams off.
“Most teams are used to playing on nice turf fields that are very smooth,” Allanson said. “So playing at the Mill Fields, which aren’t the greatest, is an advantage for us. I told the boys that most teams aren’t going to enjoy coming to Ohio University and playing on an uneven, bumpy field, so take advantage of that.”
Going into the Homecoming game against Wright State, Ohio is looking to learn from its struggles this past weekend as the Bobcats dropped two games against top-20-ranked Indiana University and Purdue University.
“One thing from the weekend I wanted to highlight to the boys is that when we work harder than other teams, teams struggle against our intensity,” Allanson said. “So, that’s what I want to bring into our last four games, especially against Wright State this weekend.”
Another takeaway from this weekend that coach Allanson wants to bring into the game against Wright State is being more effective in their decision-making while on the ball. He wants his players to be a little more composed during their possessions.
Despite the Raiders being ranked low nationally, they’ve been able to compete with teams and win games while gaining momentum on the way.
Wright State has proved to be tough on opposing defenses as it has scored seven goals in five games while winning three of those games. If the Raiders can keep imposing their will on offense, they will give the Bobcats a tough time. Coach Allanson knows this and is ensuring his defense is prepared for the battle.
“Our main goal is to try and defend in an organized shape as well as possible and continue trapping teams with our ‘pressing triggers,’” Allanson said. “Once we win the ball, we need to be more effective going forward. I think if we can play the way we did offensively against Indiana and Cincinnati, and then defensively like Ohio State and Purdue, we’ll have a very good opportunity to go and get the win.”
Wright State will try to pressure Ohio with its smothering offense, while the Bobcats will use the rough conditions of the Mill Fields as an advantage, and bombard the Raiders with their intensity.
