Taking on the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference West Division is no easy task, but the Bobcats walked away from the weekend with one point and held on to the top spot in the East Division.
After suffering a 2-0 loss to Toledo on Friday, the Bobcats tied Ball State 1-1 after two overtime periods Sunday.
Toledo kept Ohio off the scoreboard to extend the Rockets’ MAC win streak to five games. Ohio coach Stacy Strauss said she believes possession and defensive organization on set pieces was the difference from Friday to Sunday.
“Against Toledo, we were simply not good enough,” Strauss said. “They are a great team and punished us for our poor performance.”
Against Ball State, Ohio struck early when Kelsey Pichel scored her fourth goal of the season in the eighth minute. Erin Schwenke assisted on Pichel’s goal, putting a cross in for Pichel to shoot from 18 yards out.
“I thought our performance was certainly improved from Friday,” Strauss said. “We had some very nice combinations, some very good performances and we scored a great goal that was well deserved.”
After finding the equalizer in the 47th minute, Ball State kept the pressure on the Bobcats throughout the remainder of regular playing time and two overtime periods. The Cardinals outshot the Bobcats 40-18.
“At times we just hung on, and Ball State had some very dangerous players in the attack as well. In the end, I thought we did what was needed to earn a point,” Strauss said. “I think at times we had to defend, and did so with a little bit of luck.”
While Ohio will walk away with a point and remain atop the East Division, Strauss said that the team would need to avoid so many lapses and improve on ball control. The Bobcats will seek to replicate the offensive creativity that they showed Sunday but look to convert scoring opportunities at a higher percentage, Strauss said.
“I think at the end of the weekend, it was a little bit of frustration from the players,” Strauss said. “It’s never easy to swallow a tie, but it was a step up from the performance on Friday.”
Strauss said the Bobcats are lucky to remain atop the east after a winless weekend.
“Fortunately the other results in the MAC kept us in first place in the MAC East,” Strauss said. “We’re still in a good position but certainly with five games left, we need to be peaking and not allow any other losses in the games to come.”
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