Ohio continues to roll as the ball continues to cross the goal line.
Five goals this weekend resulted in a pair of Bobcat wins against Niagara and Morehead State to push Ohio’s (3-2-1) record above the .500-mark for the first time this season.
The Bobcats traveled to Niagara Friday and snatched a win right out of the Purple Eagles’ (0-6) talons.
With less than six minutes remaining in the contest, Niagara led Ohio 1-0, before senior forward Maggie Murnane tied the game at one apiece.
However, the Bobcats were not done at that point.
With just five seconds remaining during regulation, sophomore forward Holly Harris finished off junior defender Tonya Fransik’s corner to give the Bobcats the unbelievable win.
The Bobcats returned to Athens on Sunday to host Morehead State (0-5-1). A goal from freshman forward Alexis Milesky in the first minute gave the Bobcats an early lead.
“It got served in by (Erin) Feeny and then it kind of got bobbled and then Carly (Manso) went up for a header and challenged the girl and I just sat back and tapped it in,” Milesky said.
The game was then tied 1-1 at half after the Eagles’ Holly Tilley finished off a crossing to beat senior goalkeeper Mattie Liston on her right side.
But after halftime, the game was all Bobcats, as they dictated play by forcing turnovers and finding different areas to attack the Eagles’ defense.
The solid Ohio play resulted in a pair of goals for the Bobcats, with the first coming from the familiar combination of Fransik to Murnane off a corner kick. The score gave the Bobcats a 2-1 lead at the 72-minute mark.
“I think our set pieces are getting better and better the more we talk about wanting to score and having the heart to score,” Murnane said. “Set pieces are exactly that, who wants it the most in the box because games are won and lost in the box and obviously we’ve been learning a lot more and to want it more than the other team.”
The second goal came off a ball played onto the pitch by Milesky, which forced the Morehead State defenders to concede their own goal. The Bobcats then took a 3-1 advantage with just 10 minutes remaining in the contest, which remained until the final seconds ticked off the clock.
“For Lexi to score and Lexi to get an assist on the — well, it was an own goal — but for her to serve a great ball in and for Ali Cislo to pressurize the defender to have to put it in her own goal was fantastic,” coach Aaron Rodgers said.
Having won each of the squad’s past three games, next on Rodgers’ personal to-do list is leading his team to a Bobcat shutout.
“We haven’t had a shutout yet and I would like to get one soon,” Rodgers said. “I know the defenders would like to get one and the goal keepers want to get one, but for us, as I said coming in, I want to score more goals as a team and we’ve done that so far.”
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