Motivational messages adorn the walls of Ohio’s locker room, offering incentive and inspiration. As the season wanes, there is no better time for the Bobcats to heed those messages if they hope to participate in the Mid-American Conference tournament.
Ohio opens its last home stand of the year in a weekend that could determine the outcome of its season.
The Bobcats had an opportunity to move up in the standings with a win against Western Michigan, but the game was canceled because of heavy rains with Ohio staked to a 1-0 advantage.
Ohio has three games left to improve its standing before the conference tournament and is currently tied with Western Michigan for eighth place in the standings.
Freshman midfielder Lauren Haley said this weekend can show the rest of the MAC that Ohio can make an impact.
“I think that we can do great things as a team,” Haley said. “If we play like we know how to play, we can definitely be effective and do really well.”
Bobcat senior midfielder Cat Rogers said wins this weekend are crucial because the team is on the cusp of making the tournament, especially after last weekend’s result.
“I think it’s huge; it’s not only important, it’s necessary,” she said. “It’s something we have to do to change our luck around here, go at them and get two w’s. That’s the bottom line.”
Standing in the way of the path to the postseason are Toledo, who defeated Ohio 8-0 last year in the MAC tournament, and Northern Illinois. The Rockets enter the match in third place in the MAC West and have defeated the Bobcats in five consecutive meetings.
Ohio coach Stacy Strauss said Toledo will be on their minds after the past year’s result, but the mentality for conference games doesn’t change much.
“This is a huge game emotionally, but no different than any other conference game,” Strauss said. “It and the NIU game are both opportunities for us to pick up some much needed points in the race toward the MAC tournament.”
Senior day festivities take place on the pitch for the Bobcats as four seniors, forwards Veronica Rock, Erin Schwenke, Rogers and defender Paige Howard, will be honored during the game against Northern Illinois on Sunday.
Rogers said senior day is a chance to turn emotion into positive energy, which will spread to the entire team.
“I think it will definitely give us a chance to reflect on our four years here. It will probably be emotional, but hopefully we can turn that emotion into something positive going into the game, all fired-up with a lot of energy and desire and purpose.”
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