With nearly 2,000 miles of travel already under their belts, the Bobcat field hockey team will hit the road for a third consecutive weekend to take on the University of California and No. 12 Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.
In addition to the extensive traveling, Ohio (1-3) has also played a rigorous schedule.
The combined record of Ohio’s opposition is 11-5, not including this weekend’s opponents, California (3-1) and Northwestern (5-1). However, coach Neil Macmillan maintains that a tough schedule is a good thing for the team.
“It’s normal for us to play this kind of competition early in the year,” he said. “We like to challenge ourselves early in the season so that when we get to conference play, we already know we can compete with the best teams in the country.”
Saturday’s opponent, Cal, will enter the game coming off victories against Dartmouth and Liberty last weekend. The Golden Bears’ only loss this season came on Sept. 1 against Connecticut.
Junior Andrea Earle leads the Golden Bears with nine points, seven of which came during last weekend’s games. She has also scored four times on eight shots on goal.
After being named the Mid-American Conference offensive player of the week on Tuesday, senior Luli Gomez Teruel will look to pace the Bobcats in countering the Golden Bears.
“Cal is a well coached team, but I think we match up well with them,” Macmillan said. “We’ll have to play well. We had a good week of practice, so we’re going in with confidence. They’re a very beatable team for us.”
After Saturday’s contest, the Bobcats take the field against Northwestern on Sunday for their second game of the weekend.
The Wildcats have won their past five games by a combined score of 17-3 after losing their season opener against Providence. Sophomore Carolin Troncelliti and senior Nikki Parsley led Northwestern with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
“Northwestern is definitely the better of the two teams we play this weekend,” Macmillan said. “But they’re beatable as well. We played them really close last year, so if we can use that experience and execute defensively, we could possibly pull out a victory.”
Win or lose, coach Macmillan is looking forward to seeing improvement in his team against tougher competition.
“We’ve become more organized on the field and our conditioning has improved,” Macmillan said. “I think with those things and the week of practice we’ve had that we can hang with these teams and even win.
“The key to us winning is simply how we perform. Our success is dependent on that.”
tj790511@ohiou.edu
Up Next:
Saturday
2 p.m. vs. California (3-1)
Sunday
1 p.m. vs. No. 12 Northwestern (5-1)
Games will be played in Evanston, Ill.
