Ohio defeated Detroit 3-1 on Friday afternoon, for its second straight home win.
When the Bobcats scored their final goal to secure a victory, coach Aaron Rodgers ran down the bench, jumped in the air and screamed with exclamation.
Friday afternoon’s 3-1 win against Detroit was exactly what Ohio needed — a boost of confidence and a sound overall performance.
“We’re in a good place and I’m happy with where we are,” Rodgers said. “We’ve just got to keep building. We aren’t where we need to be, but we’re in the right place as the process goes.”
Despite allowing a goal in early in the match, the Bobcats were able to recover and pick up their second consecutive win at Chessa Field.
As important as this win was for Ohio, which was trying to improve its record, the result restored confidence in an offense that was successful but struggled to score.
After the Titans took the lead in the 26th minute, Rodgers changed up his tactics and brought freshman forward Kelley Zebrowski onto the pitch, hoping to get behind a slow Detroit backline and create more opportunities.
In the 38th minute, Zebrowski was able to draw the Titans goalkeeper off her line and took a shot, which sophomore midfielder Alli Cislo tapped into the goal to equalize.
“I could tell their backline was big and strong but not very fast,” Rodgers said. “Kelley is very fast, so I knew we could bring her in and take advantage of the space behind them.”
Freshman midfielder Hannah Jaggers, who has consistently played well, continued to have a big impact on the match, as she recorded an assist to sophomore Alexis Milesky for the go-ahead goal.
“It feels better now that we’re scoring,” Jaggers said. “It’s a lot more fun when you get to score.”
Jaggers later scored her first career goal off of a cross from freshman defender Celeste Fushimi-Karns, who Jaggers joked was her roommate, bolstering the connection.
But the big story for the Bobcats was Rodger’s ability to adjust his team’s strategy, and it ultimately paid off.
“At halftime I told the girls that winning is never easy,” Rodgers said. “I don’t schedule games to get an easy win. That’s not how I like to coach and prepare teams.”
An Ohio side that left Rodgers speechless in frustration is finally beginning to play at the level the coach expects, and the level they deserve.
Instead of pointing out the flaws in his side, he left Friday’s match smiling, saying he wants all the goals he can get to help the team’s goal differential.
“There’s a lot of confidence for us,” said senior goalkeeper Nicole Amari, who finished the match with five saves. “Our biggest thing is believing in ourselves and I think it’s finally coming together.”
For the first time this season, Ohio only had one game this weekend, which Rodgers said should help his side prepare for a road game at Dayton, but he also mentioned the second half performance will make this week pass-by easier.
“I knew coming into the game it was going to be a tough game,” Rodgers said. “They knew it was going to be tough and they fought back with resiliency and scored those two second half goals.”
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