Ten seniors will put on the Ohio jersey and take their final steps of the regular season at Chessa Field today.
Ohio will host Buffalo and then travel to Kent State Sunday to defend its spot atop the Mid-American Conference East Division. At halftime today, the 10 seniors on the team will walk onto the field to be honored for their time in a Bobcat uniform.
Ainsley Bodi and Remi Famodu, who are both redshirted juniors, will be among the 10 players on the field at halftime.
“I will certainly miss having a group of players that have a vast understanding of the game,” coach Stacy Strauss said. “As a group, they are a bit more mature and don’t get rattled. I think that made a lot of the situations a lot easier for the coaching staff. The coaches have to do less work because they know the right things are being said and get done behind the scenes.”
Senior defender Lauren Burke, said she is confident in her team’s ability to succeed, especially toward the end of the season. The players have reflected more on the past four years as the season winds down.
“The most memorable part is building relationships with the girls,” Burke said. “I think we’ve gotten so much closer as a team as the years have gone by, and it’s been fun seeing people grow as individuals on and off the field.”
For senior Sara Seitz, the end of the season might not have gone as planned after suffering too many concussions and being ruled out for the rest of the season. She reminds the younger players to take advantage of their time as Bobcats.
“Take every game as it comes and still don’t look to the next game or a bigger game just because the opponent might be good,” Seitz said. “To just take advantage of every moment you step onto the field, even standing on the sidelines and cheer the girls on.”
While Strauss and the team will take the time to recognize what the seniors have accomplished, Ohio has not forgotten it is battling to stay in first and still has three games to go.
“I try to underplay it quite a bit because we still have hopefully several more games to play,” Strauss said. “It is certainly a good opportunity to just give a nod to them quickly at halftime and just recognize everything that they have given.”
UPNEXT
OHIO vs. Buffalo
3 p.m. today, Chessa Field
OHIO at Kent State
1 p.m. Sunday, Zoeller Field
mb832409@ohiou.edu
