The Bobcats came into the weekend looking for two wins; instead they came away with only one point and finished one place shy of first in the Mid-American Conference East Division.
After earning a 1-1 tie with Buffalo on Friday, Ohio fell 1-0 to Kent State on Sunday.
While Ohio was leading 1-0 with less than two minutes remaining, Buffalo put the tying goal in the back of the net to pop the balloons on Ohio’s senior day.
“I thought we were a little bit cleaner in our possession in the second half. The first half was pretty sloppy, and we just didn’t connect passes at the rate we should,” coach Stacy Strauss said. “We addressed that at halftime, and it was a little bit better in the second half. That created the goal and several other chances, as well, that we probably could have, and should have finished to put the game away.”
A multitude of injuries on Ohio’s sideline kept some of the Bobcats’ key players out of the game.
With goalkeeper Mattie Liston not fully healthy, freshman Nicole Amari stood between the pipes for the third consecutive game on Sunday.
Starting defenders Paige Howard and Kim Nordtveit also did not play, allowing Natalie Bechtel to get the start.
Gabby Hausfeld also made her first-career start on Sunday.
Despite the winless weekend, junior Erin Schwenke said the replacements filled in nicely.
“We obviously lost two huge defenders, but I think people stepped up in the back for them,” Schwenke said. “We just have to finish more shots.”
In Sunday’s match against Kent State, the Bobcats and Golden Flashes were tied for more than 89 minutes until Kent State’s Megan Repas scored the game-winner with a second remaining in the regulation time.
Despite two heartbreaking results, Strauss commended the senior class heading into the team’s final regular-season game.
“They are just a great group of people. In the time that they have been here; they’ve grown a tremendous amount as people, and as soccer players,” Strauss said. “They are such good students and that has carried over to them being great players and great ambassadors for the program.”
With the last-second win, Kent State stays atop the MAC-East with six wins. Ohio sits in second place with four.
The Bobcats will travel to Akron for the final game of the year.
QUICKSTATS
OHIO VS BUFFALO: 1-1
OHIO VS KENT STATE: 1-0 LOSS
Amari gets third straight start
Gabby Hausfeld gets first-career start
Kent State scores with one second to win
mb823409@ohiou.edu
