Ohio (6-10, 2-5 Mid-American Conference) defeated Davidson (7-7, 3-3 Atlantic 10) 2-1 in a great offensive showing for both teams.
The two opponents combined for 22 shots, with Ohio having 13 and Davidson having nine. Both defenses played well, as only two of Ohio's shots were converted to points, and only one of Davidson's made it to the net. All of this was a part of the gameplay, though.
"I think I wrote shots maybe 40 to 50 times on (our whiteboard)," Ohio coach Ali Johnstone said. "We've just got to keep going with it and keep shooting."
The offense didn't start until after the first quarter, as both teams were held scoreless. Both Ohio and Davidson put up two shots but neither went in. Most of the quarter saw the ball going back and forth while neither team could get ahead. Ohio also had two penalty corners in this quarter, but nothing could come out of it.
The second quarter started similarly as Ohio got multiple shots off, but none resulted in points. Towards the end of the quarter, things changed, though, as freshman forward Addy Basile scored her first career goal. This gave Ohio a 1-0 lead. As the buzzer rang, Ohio would enter the second half with the lead, something they took advantage of.
"As I watched the goal go in, I was super excited for (Basile)," Junior back Anouk Plaehn said. "She deserved it and I couldn't be happier."
With the third quarter starting and Davidson needing to score badly to get tied up with Ohio, it did just that. Davidson's midfielder Matilda Collin scored three minutes into the third quarter, putting Ohio on alert.
Neither team would score the rest of this quarter, but Davidson started to push the tempo more as it had four penalty corners in the quarter alone. Ohio previously had struggles in the third quarter of games, but coach Johnstone thought her team had made improvements compared to its previous games' third periods.
"We talked about game management and when to slow it down and when to really push the pedals," Johnstone said. "They did really well with that today."
With the game being tied up entering the final quarter of play, one of these teams needed to make a big splash, and that is just what Ohio did. Plaehn scored a goal off a penalty corner, giving Ohio the 2-1 lead over Davidson. Davidson soon went all hands on deck, as with five minutes left, it subbed out its goalkeeper and left an open net so it could have one more player to help offensively.
Ohio was unable to score, but Davidson got close to tying the game. With around 40 seconds remaining, Davidson got a penalty corner. They ended up missing it, but they got the ball back and had it in their possession for most of the remaining time in the quarter. Ohio's defense was able to stand strong and prevent a tie, giving it the victory over Davidson and its second home victory of the season.
"I actually checked my heart rate," Johnstone said. "We changed our shape on defensive corners, too, and the team really responded to it."
Ohio looked more offensively sound than in previous games and consistently kept the ball around its opponent's net. Ohio also got six penalty corners this game, which was crucial considering that every goal was scored off one of them.
"We outshot Davidson today, which is a huge deal for us because, in the last games, we didn't do that," Plaehn said.
Ohio looks to carry its momentum into next week's game in which they face off against Central Michigan, a Mid-American-Conference team in its regular season finale.
