Ohio (9-2-4, 4-1-3 Mid-American Conference) hosted Toledo (6-6-3, 3-3-2 MAC) in a thrilling matchup. Both teams played aggressively, with neither team letting the other gain much space. The game went down to the last minute but ultimately ended in Ohio’s first MAC loss of the season.
Neither Ohio nor Toledo controlled the game in the first half. It was a very defensive first half, with both teams trying their best to get by the other’s defense but failing to get anything going.
Ohio was the first team to get a shot off, with sophomore forward Jaimason Brooker shooting the ball to the top left of the goal. The ball ended up being on goal but was stopped by Toledo’s goalkeeper. Ohio would end the first half with more total shots than Toledo.
One of those shots was an incredible opportunity to gain the lead early but was not taken advantage of. Brooker had gotten the ball into the box and tried making a move on Toledo’s goalkeeper. The goalie was not fooled, and Brooker took the shot, but it was blocked, keeping the score tied at zero.
As the first half continued, it became evident that Toledo came up with a great game plan for Ohio.
While Ohio usually controls the pace of the game by controlling possession, Toledo would not let Ohio get anything going, disrupting passes and not giving it any space.
Toledo broke the tie in the 40th minute, making a play into the box that was too much for Ohio goalkeeper Celeste Sloma to handle. At the end of the first half, Ohio had more shots, shots on goal and corner kicks, but Toledo was ahead in saves.
The second half of the game was much different from the first half. Ohio controlled almost the entire second half in terms of possession. The ball rarely crossed onto its side of the field as Ohio was constantly putting pressure on Toledo’s defense.
Just in the second half alone, Ohio had ten shots, five shots on goal and three corner kicks, all of which are more than Toledo for the entire game. The second half of the game as a whole was mostly a constant aggressive attack by Ohio, trying to tie the game, but the final 20 minutes of the game were chaos.
On Toledo's counterattack in the 71st minute, Sloma made a save to keep the game from getting away from Ohio. Toledo passed the ball back and forth on the counterattack, and Toledo's player was set up perfectly for a shot inside the box, but Sloma saved it.
In just the last 20 minutes of the game, four fouls were called, three to Ohio and one to Toledo. In addition to those four fouls, five yellow cards were called, four to Toledo and one to Ohio.
The game was becoming chaotic and aggressive, with Toledo trying everything to keep its lead and Ohio trying everything to tie it up.
Ohio continued its attack in the last ten minutes of the game, getting six shots off in that time. In the 86th minute, freshman defender Lillian Weller was passed the ball right in front of the goal with an open shot, but her header missed the goal, going just over the net.
In the 89th and 90th minutes, Toledo committed two fouls, one just outside the box and one by the goalkeeper, giving Ohio two free kicks and two chances to tie the game.
The first free kick was awarded to Brooker, but junior midfielder Eve Berish took the shot. The shot was well placed, but Toledo’s goalkeeper made a great play and saved the shot.
In the second free kick, Toledo’s goalkeeper was given a yellow card for unsporting, and the free kick was from around the same place as the one just a minute before. With one last chance at scoring, junior forward Maia Kaufman took the free kick. Her shot was placed in the top left corner of the goal, a great shot, but Toledo’s goalkeeper was yet again there to stop it.
The game would end seconds later with a final score of 1-0, giving Ohio its first loss since Michigan State in the third game of the season.
“You can’t learn and grow unless you face struggles,” head coach Aaron Rodgers said. “Defensively, we’ve been fantastic all season; sometimes, a blip happens.”
