After beating No. 1 seed Central Michigan, Ohio lost to Kent State despite holding the Golden Flashes scoreless the first half.
KENT, Ohio — The last time Ohio played Kent State in the Mid-American Conference Championship, the team walked away with the title. Saturday, the Bobcats walked away with disappointment and tears in their eyes.
After defeating first-seeded Central Michigan on Friday, No. 4 Ohio fell to No. 2 Kent State 2-0 in the MAC Championship game despite holding the Golden Flashes scoreless in the first half.
Ohio redshirt senior Lauryl Desch led the Bobcats with three shots, and senior goalie Brittany Walker tallied seven saves Saturday on the tail of a shutout in the second half.
Kent State (10-10) scored in the 54th minute and put the game away with three minutes to play.
“(Our offense) just kept pushing and pushing,” Kent State coach Kathleen Wiler said. “(Walker) is an excellent goalkeeper. She played a great first half, and we just went into the second half and went after it.”
Ohio sophomore Hannah Kingsbury came close to scoring twice for the Bobcats, but both her deflections in the first half went wide of the goal. It was the first time Ohio was held scoreless against a MAC opponent since its shootout win against Longwood on Sept. 14.
“I’m disappointed we weren’t able to get on the scoreboard,” Ohio coach Neil Macmillan said. “We had some really good chances, both in the first and second half. Brit (Walker) was outstanding for us again and kept us in the game and overall, the team as a whole put out tremendous effort.”
In retrospect, the stat sheet doesn’t tell the whole story.
Many Bobcats had valiant efforts over the weekend, including freshman Elena Curley, who was a catalyst for the offense at times by pushing the ball into the opposition's circle from redirects.
Desch played through a nagging hand injury after a Golden Flashes forward hit her hand during a swing, and junior Adele Sammons fought through double teams and traps at the midfield line.
The Golden Flashes offense used multiple aerial, or overhead, passes to advance the ball, they were fairly physical with the Bobcats’ backline and midfield players.
At one point, play was stopped and captains were called to the center of the field because of overly physical play from both teams.
“I think what we saw was a team that wanted to play physical with us, and that’s fine,” Macmillan said. “We can play a physical game as well.”
Despite what Macmillan said was a disappointing finish in the MAC Tournament, Ohio finished the season stronger than it began by winning four of its last seven games.
“We started off learning to play with each other and where each player plays,” sophomore Kristen Buchanan said. “And now that we figured that out, we go into each game stronger and stronger.”
Ohio finishes its season at 6-11 with a third-straight exit from the MAC Tournament without a championship. Macmillan, however, said he was proud of his seniors and the way they fought throughout the year.
“(I’m) disappointed with the season as a whole, but much happier now than a couple of months ago,” he said. “We really started playing better hockey midway through the season, started picking it up, started scoring some goals. Unfortunately that let us down a little bit … but you play a game like this, and we didn’t reach our goal of winning the MAC.”
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