Friday, Saturday and Sunday represented the first full slate of Ohio sports to kick off the 2024-25 school year. Three different teams played their season opener, while four teams saw action over the weekend.
Here is all you need to know about Ohio sports this past weekend.
Football
Ohio got started on its 2024 football campaign over the weekend in Syracuse, New York, where it found itself on the wrong end of a 38-22 defeat.
Ohio running back Anthony Tyus III, a transfer from Northwestern, put up big numbers in his first game with Ohio, tallying 203 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Tyus became the first Ohio running back since 2021 to rush for over 200 yards and was the only running back of the weekend to rush for more than 200 yards against a Power Four opponent.
Former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord gave the Ohio defense problems in its week one matchup, passing for 354 yards and four touchdowns.
Ohio will face tough decisions for the rest of the season after defensive captain Jeremiah Wood left the game with an injury against Syracuse. After the game, Ohio coach Tim Albin confirmed that Wood will miss the season with a torn ACL.
Volleyball
Volleyball (2-1) saw its season get off to a hot start this week as hosts of the Bobcat Invitational at The Convo. Ohio hosted Xavier, Appalachian State and Wright State, playing one game against each en route to a winning weekend.
Ohio’s first matchup came Friday against a Xavier team that finished well over .500 in the Big East this past season, resulting in a 3-0 Ohio win. Despite the sweep, the Bobcats won with a total point differential of 9, never winning by more than 5 points.
The closely contested theme of the weekend would squeeze a win out of Appalachian State Saturday in a 3-2 contest. The undefeated streak would close against Wright State, as Ohio would find itself losing in a 3-0 sweep. Wright State finished the weekend 3-0 after winning every set it played.
Ohio’s highest scorers were Anna Kharchynska and Kam Hunt, with 44 and 37 points, respectively. The two often scored at the end of an assist from setter Chariti McKellar, who tallied 64 assists over the three matches.
Soccer
Soccer’s (2-1-1) week included only one game, a home stand against Valparaiso Sunday. The Bobcats were firing on all cylinders after their week-long break, winning in a 5-0 shutout.
Offensively, Ohio was aided by Scout Murray’s first hat trick of the season, all three goals coming consecutively for Ohio. Murray was assisted twice by Jaimason Booker and once by Iro Fakinou. Ohio also benefited from an unassisted goal by Ella Deevers and an end-of-game make from Lillian Weller, coming off assists from Anna Burchett and Maia Soulis.
Defensively, it was Celeste Sloma holding strong in goal for all 90 minutes, as she’s done in three consecutive games. Sloma was only able to record one save, largely because the defensive cast in front of her was able to completely shut off Valparaiso’s advances, conceding nothing.
Field Hockey
Ohio started its season over the weekend with two matchups against formidable opponents on the road, each ending in a loss. The Bobcats could only score a single point through the two-game stretch.
Friday, the team started its season with a game against Stanford, where it could not do much to stop the Cardinal offense. 20 minutes into the game, Ohio was already down 2-0. The Bobcat's only score of the weekend came against Stanford, thanks to a goal by Natalie Lafleur.
Against New Albany, the No. 20 ranked team in the country, Ohio couldn’t score a single goal en route to a 4-0 defeat.
Hockey
Ohio won’t get its hockey season started till late September, but in some of the biggest sports news of the week, Ohio coach Lionel Mauron announced he is no longer going to be with the team. Mauron had been with the Bobcats since the 2020-21 season.
The Bobcats will now scramble to find their new head coach with only a few weeks to go till the start of the season.
