Ohio was able to bounce back to an overtime win over Ball State 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Pruitt Field, after allowing a late goal and an injury to its leading goal scorer.
Junior Maria Russell received the ball on the left side of the offensive third and cut to the middle where she fired a pass to the right goal post where graduate student Amelia Milton taped it into the goal for the game-winning goal.
"It was a really hard-working team goal," Milton said.
With five minutes left in overtime sophomore Kendall Ballard was hit by a Ball State player’s stick and fell the ground injured. Ballard stayed on the ground for over a minute before being helped off the field.
.@OhioFieldHockey's Gabby Lorenzo first career goal to give Ohio the 2-1 lead. pic.twitter.com/6dKOeKrC6L
— Eric Walker (@TREricWalker) September 25, 2016
Ballard was starting in a more defensive role due to an injury to Kristen Buchanan, and Ohio then had to figure out who would be taking on Ballard’s role.
“We’re light right now," coach Neil Macmillan said. "We had no fourth-year seniors out there, there all on the bench right now, majority injured. … (It's) exciting to see younger players step up and fill those roles."
All three goals for Ohio were scored by players in their first year, with more experienced players getting the assists.
Although Ball State is in the same conference as Ohio this game does not count towards conference records. The game that counts toward conference play will be Oct. 13 at Ball State.
Ohio plays next on Sept. 30 against Central Michigan in the first official conference game of the season.
