The Ohio soccer team recorded its fifth four-goal game of the year Friday.
The Bobcats (9-9-1 overall, 6-5-1 Mid-American Conference) shut out Robert Morris (2-16) Friday to close the regular season.
Several players got in on the action, as coach Stacy Strauss placed all of Ohio's seniors in the starting lineup for their final home game at Chessa Field.
Back Lisa Vondrell opened Ohio's scoring with an unassisted goal, the first of her career, in the 12th minute. Midfielder Natalie Grein and back Jennifer Wright followed with first-half goals, as well.
Forward Christel Schiering scored the final goal of the game, in the 71st minute, to make it 4-0.
Schiering also recorded an assist, as did midfielders Gina Siedentopf and Kendra Hornschemeier.
Despite posting four goals, Ohio's performance was corralled by the Colonials' slow style of play, Wright said.
We're used to people coming out faster and being more competitive
she said. I think that affected the way we played. We played a little slower and sat in.
Ohio received a scare early in the second half when starting midfielder Natalie Grein collided with an opposing player and fell to the ground. Play was stopped for a few minutes, but Grein left the field under her own power. Strauss said Grein will return to play in Ohio's next game.
Ohio's record had stood as low as 4-9-1 during the season, but Friday's win was the fifth straight for the Bobcats and evened their record to .500.
The non-conference game at the end of Ohio's schedule bore no effect on its place in the postseason, which was determined the previous weekend with Ohio's fourth straight conference win.
The Bobcats are the seventh seed in the MAC Tournament, which starts Tuesday. Ohio travels north to face the No. 2 seed, Kent State (12-4-3 overall, 8-2-2 MAC).
After a somewhat relaxed game against the Colonials, the Bobcats will need the same energy they finished the MAC regular season with as they enter tournament play, Schiering said.
(Robert Morris) probably wasn't the best team we would want to play right before a tournament game she said Friday. We're going to meet tomorrow to go over the runs. We just have to have some intense practice the next couple days.
Strauss said she is confident the Bobcats will step up for Tuesday's game, though.
Ohio begins postseason play at 2 p.m. Tuesday in a MAC-Tournament quarterfinal match at Kent State.
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Joe Rominiecki
