The Bobcats gave up 24 shots in their first game
If anything was made clear in Ohio’s 3-0 loss to Purdue on Friday, it’s that Vanessa Cordoba could likely be the most important player for the Bobcats in 2015.
Cordoba, a sophomore transfer student, recorded eight saves, including two acrobatic tips that kept the deficit down early in the first half. She had three saves in the first half, compared to Purdue’s Erika Yohn, who only made two tame saves throughout the season opener.
The Boilermakers were the aggressors early on, capitalizing off a dangerous cross from junior forward Hannah Leinert, which met forward Maddy Williams’s head six minutes in for the first goal. The two would combine again in the 49th minute as Leinert slipped a through pass to Williams, who slid it under Cordoba to double the lead.
Ohio coach Aaron Rodgers used a litany of different defensive-minded players including freshmen Mandy Arnzen and Rianna Reese, sophomore Megan Niebuhr and senior Leah Sandercock to try and put the Bobcats’ defense back on track.
The tactic seemed to work as Ohio got more threatening in the latter part of the first half, but it wouldn’t last.
The Boilermakers scored early in the second half and appeared the better team the rest of the way, forcing Ohio into multiple difficult situations including the final goal, which came in the last minute as the Bobcats allowed a soft goal on a counter attack.
Cordoba did her best to keep Ohio in the game, making multiple impressive saves but falling to three goals that were simply too well executed for the Bobcats to defend.
The result nearly mirrors the one from almost a year ago when the Bobcats played Purdue in the Boilermaker Challenge Cup where Ohio last 2-0.
The game should be a good indicator of the season as Purdue (6-11-2) had a very similar record to the Bobcats (6-13-0) last season. Rodgers made it a point to recruit and utilize multiple attacking options this season to try and find a spark for an Ohio team that only scored 20 goals in 2014. But the offense was flat against Purdue.
The Bobcats scored three goals in two preseason matches against Wright State and Valparaiso, but the opposition will be much tougher in the later days of the non-conference schedule.
Trips to Kentucky, Marshall and Xavier will be much tougher and the Bobcats will need to be more composed on both sides of the ball in order to threaten the opposition. Ohio started last season poorly with losses to three of its first four opponents including a 3-0 thrashing from Kentucky and a heartbreaking 3-2 double-overtime loss to Xavier. The Bobcats then took that form into the Mid-American Conference schedule, losing eight of their 11 conference games.
With the addition of Cordoba and the use of some solid attacking options in freshman Stephanie Rowland and redshirt junior Holly Harris, alongside established players such as junior Alexis Milesky and redshirt junior Carly Manso, Ohio should be competing in the MAC East division for a respectable finish.
But if the Bobcats don’t improve on the flanks and work on protecting Cordoba from facing double-digit shots in each game — she faced 24 against Purdue — then it could be another long campaign ahead.
kb749012@ohio.edu
@kellenbeacoats
