Ohio’s offense struggled in the second half to generate offense, as the Bobcats now are 2-4 on the season.
It was a tale of two halves during Ohio’s 1-0 loss to No. 17 Indiana on Saturday.
Indiana’s Nicole Volgraf scored on a corner opportunity in the 45th minute to give the Hoosiers the lead, as offensive woes troubled the Bobcats after the first half.
The Hoosiers added more players to their backline after halftime and the Bobcats struggled to gain any traction on offense.
In the past three games, Ohio has only scored one goal during regulation and in the second half, the Bobcats tallied just one penalty corner and zero shots on goal against Indiana.
Coach Neil Macmillan said although the Hoosiers adjusted their lineup during halftime, the Bobcats was fairly even with Indiana through the first 35 minutes.
“It was a tale of two halves. In the first half, we did a great job of pressuring them,” Macmillan said. “In the second half, they came out and changed a little bit of their formation, and we didn’t do a great job of adjusting in the second half.”
During the first half, the Bobcats kept even with the nationally-ranked Hoosiers, as Ohio lead them in corners, 4-1, and tied Indiana in shots on goal with four.
Goalie Brittany Walker had two saves in 70 minutes of play after being named Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Week last Tuesday.
Redshirt senior Lauryl Desch led the Bobcats with two shots on goal and a defensive save, as Macmillan stated the team has to start putting more points up on the board.
“It’s sad because in the first half we looked like a completely different team,” Walker said. “The second half, I think, mentally, we weren’t all there. (Indiana) switched around their lineup, kinda switched their game plan. I don’t think we adapted quick enough and the second half we played a lot more defensively.”
This season, Ohio has only scored three goals in six games, with freshmen Maria Russell serving as the leading scorer for the Bobcats. Russell scored two goals in Ohio’s home opener against Boston on Aug. 31.
Finishing its three game homestand 2-1, Ohio will next travel to Virginia to face Richmond and Liberty. Macmillan said the team will hopefully be able to utilize the out-of-conference matchups to their advantage and experiment with different lineups.
“We’re young upfront, I’ve said that a few times this year,” Macmillan said. “But we’ve challenged them. We need to start scoring goals. It’s two games now, where we haven’t scored and it’s disappointing. We need to get on the board.”
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