Ohio (9-2-4, 4-1-3 Mid-American Conference) suffered a 1-0 defeat to Toledo in the team’s return to Chessa Field Thursday. The loss snaps a loss-less streak of 11 consecutive matches without a defeat dating back to August 25th against Michigan State, Ohio’s only other loss on the 2024 schedule.
The loss dropped Ohio’s MAC conference win percentage to .688. Ohio will enter the Friday slate of MAC games in third place behind Buffalo (9-1-5, 4-1-3, MAC) and Western Michigan (7-1-6, 4-0-3, MAC), both of whom have hosted the 2022 and 2023 MAC Tournaments after first-place finishes, respectively.
Western Michigan will challenge 12th-place Akron on Friday, October 18th, to determine whether Ohio is in second or third place in the MAC entering the off-weekend from play.
Ohio will have three MAC matches to push for the No. 1 overall seed, including a vital road matchup against Buffalo next Thursday, October 24th, with crucial MAC No. 1 overall seed implications up for grabs. Ohio, most recently, earned a victory during the 2023 season against Buffalo on the road 1-0, so Ohio will look to replicate that success from a year ago to cement a firm playoff position.
Buffalo will have three remaining MAC matches before postseason play begins.
Ohio battled Western Michigan to a 1-1 draw earlier this season on September 19th, meaning that Ohio will have to rely on MAC competition not to allow Western Michigan to win out the rest of the regular season to give Ohio a shot at claiming the No.1 seed in the MAC Women’s Soccer Tournament for the first time since 2004.
Western Michigan still has four MAC matches before opening postseason play.
After today's loss, head coach Arron Rodgers had a positive outlook for his team. Three crucial games remain to give Ohio a first-round bye or home-field advantage for the tournament.
Next, Ohio will hit the road for the vital MAC match against Buffalo on Thursday, October 24th, with kickoff set for 6 p.m.
