Lauryl Desch and Adele Sammons scored multiple scores to overcome a mid game rally against Ball State.
Ohio had reason to celebrate after its 5-3 victory Sunday.
Redshirt senior Lauryl Desch produced a career-high three goals and junior Adele Sammons scored twice, as Ohio’s win over Ball State cemented the Bobcats within the top four teams in the Mid-American Conference. The top four teams at the end of the season will move onto the MAC Tournament in Kent.
Coming in, both Ohio (3-8, 2-2 MAC) and Ball State (5-9, 1-3 MAC) were tied at fourth in the MAC, but with the win, Ohio jumped Ball State and Longwood for the fourth-best inner conference record.
Against the Cardinals, the Bobcats had their best offensive game of the season. Desch scored within the first two minutes and then Sammons made it 2-0 halfway through the eighth minute. Ohio has now scored in the first five minutes in back-to-back games.
Ball State then rattled off three straight goals from Tori Widrick, Morgan Nash and Colleen McGlynn within about six minutes of play, but Desch knotted the game up at three apiece at half.
“Most of my goals have been coming off corners, which is really nice,” Desch said. “But the tough part about that is getting all seven people involved and on the same page to get it in.”
After halftime, the Bobcats outpaced the Cardinals in almost every statistical category. Ohio outshot Ball State 3-1 and won the corner battle 3-2, as every goal was assisted.
Sammons score in the 44th minute pushed the lead to one, with the England native juking out a Cardinal defender on her way to her third goal of the season.
“Just before that we had the same exact corner and it was planned to be like that,” Sammons said. “I called the second one, because I knew if I faked out to Lauryl again, I could fake around the defender. I planned it, but it was a bit nerve-wracking (executing it).”
Desch then solidified Ohio’s victory in the 59th minute by scoring off a corner from Vicky Nase and Caelyn Hartley.
Nase, a redshirt sophomore, and Hartley, a senior, also played a vital role in Ohio’s win. Hartley tallied four assists to push her total to seven on the year and Nase had a career-high three assists on the day.
Having Nase start the corners was something implemented from coach Neil Macmillan to allow more scorers and options at the top of the circle. According to Macmillan and Sammons, Nase worked on her passes from the corner the entire week leading up to Ball State.
“(Nase) and Lauryl work well together, Adele scored a couple nice goals of her own, so it just changes it up,” Macmillan said. “Hopefully if a team has been scouting us and we throw something completely different at them, it puts a spanner in their works.”
The win ended Ohio’s five-game losing streak, as Macmillan said moral is riding high after the win and that momentum is showing on the field.
“(Moral) has been great throughout, it’s not drastically different today than from other games,” Macmillan said. “After the game, when you win, it’s obviously higher, but we’ve had a great team atmosphere and it’s now coming together on the field.”
@LUKEOROARK
LR514812@OHIO.EDU
