Ohio dominated from wire to wire in its home opener with a decisive 9-0 victory against Radford Saturday.
The Bobcats possessed the ball in their opponent’s territory for the majority of the game and didn’t allow Radford a possession on the Ohio side of the field until eight minutes into the game.
It didn’t take Ohio long to get on the scoreboard as Taylor Brown scored her third goal of the season to become tied for fifth place in careers goals with 34.
“It’s such an awesome feeling to know that I’m up there with the top players that have been here at Ohio,” Brown said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”
After the Bobcats put up another goal, the game was placed on a 30-minute delay when lightning was spotted. The start time was pushed back an hour because of a thunderstorm rolling through the Athens area as well.
“It was challenging early on going on and off,” head coach Neil Macmillan said. “We came out after that first stoppage and continued playing the way we were, which was great. It was good play today.”
Argentinian transfer Luli Gomez Teruel notched five goals in what was the highest individual goal output for a Bobcat since Brown’s four-goal performance against St. Louis in 2010.
“What can I say? When it rains it pours,” Macmillan said. “She has great talent and ability. Not many people can score five in a game. It was just an exceptional performance.”
Brown’s big day didn’t stop when she broke into the record books. She had four assists on the day, three of which came on goals scored by Teruel.
“In practice, we always find each other and she’s always there,” Brown said. “She’s always in that right spot and I’m able to find her. She had a great game.”
The Bobcat’s offense flowed against the inexperienced squad, recording a season-high 29 shots, 20 shots on goal and 11 corners. Those numbers dwarfed the three shots and zero shots on goal recorded by the Highlanders.
“I give full credit to them (Radford). They fought,” Macmillan said. “They’re a young, young team. The majority of the team is sophomores, but they’ll get it. We luckily exposed their weaknesses and played a really good game.”
Despite excelling against a weaker opponent, Macmillan was pleased with the improvement he saw in his team, rebounding from a 6-0 loss to Syracuse this past week.
“That was very fluid hockey,” Macmillan said. “Our passing was a key we wanted to address going into this game and I think that was something we did. And that just led to players running through and open shots, which was nice to see.”
It was a game of firsts for Ohio, as sophomore Brittany Walker recorded the first shutout of her young career.
ch203310@ohiou.edu
