Ohio is improving, but not at the rate Rodgers wants to see.
If this season showed anything, it’s that building a strong program for the future may take longer than Ohio may have hoped.
The optimism surrounding the team earlier this season was squashed when the Bobcats began their conference-leading five-game losing streak in Mid-American Conference play, dissolving any chance for a postseason run.
And now it’s up to the Bobcats to find that optimism again.
Ranking Rodgers
When Aaron Rodgers was introduced as the new coach in December of 2012, he inherited a program flirting with relevance in the conference, but still searching for an identity.
Rodgers, who played an influential role at Kentucky as an assistant coach to help turnaround that program, promised to bring that same success to Athens.
He brought along an attacking style, focusing getting players forward up the field and forcing defensive breakdowns from the opposition.
Last year, during his first season, Ohio finished 7-8-5 (3-5-3 MAC) and finished with the program’s first non-losing season since 2009. It also marked the fifth-consecutive season the Bobcats made the first round of the MAC Tournament.
“The bottom line is we can’t be satisfied with just making the MAC Tournament,” Rodgers said after losing 3-0 to Eastern Michigan in the tournament’s first round on Nov. 3, 2013.
With that mentality in mind, Rodgers began his second year at the program with high hopes and his first recruiting class with the program.
When it came to the non-conference portion of the 2014 schedule, Rodgers chose to play better competition including , believing it would help his side entering MAC play.
After a 3-0 loss to Kentucky (12-5, 7-3 SEC) in August, Rodgers said he wanted to transform the Ohio soccer program, adding that immediate success would be crucial for the second-year coach.
“We don’t just want to win the Mid-American Conference,” Rodgers said after the loss to the Wildcats. “We want to win in the NCAA Tournament and compete as one of the top 40 or 50 programs in the country.”
Instead the Bobcats were gun-shy in front of goal, ultimately preventing the team from executing its game plan: attacking soccer.
Future is unwritten
It’s obvious to say this season was a disappointment for Ohio.
Following this past Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Toledo, Rodgers said he was gutted with his team’s performance and thought its play hasn’t indicated how successful this team can be.
Even if the Bobcats win their fixture with Kent State on Thursday to end the year, it still marks the first time in over five seasons that they haven’t played in postseason play.
While the squad will lose five of its regular starters to graduation (goalkeeper Nicole Amari, defenders Tonya Frasik and Gabby Hausfeld, midfielder Annie Beard and forward Liz Finley), the team moving forward will be comprised with pacey players who gel into Rodgers’ system.
“This year I think we had a tough time getting that last ball into the net,” Frasik said. “[Rodgers] has changed this program for the better and I’m excited to see what this team offers in the future.”
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohio.edu
