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Ohio Falls at Kent State in Season Finale, Secures Eight Seed in Playoffs


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Ohio made it an emphasis in practice this week to slow down Kent State’s efficient offense, but the Bobcats struggled Thursday, allowing three goals in their 3-0 loss to the Golden Flashes.

Nevertheless, Ohio holds the eighth position in the MAC and will play in the MAC Tournament for the fourth consecutive season.

Because Ohio's game at Western Michigan was cancelled, the MAC determined the playoff seeding by points per game instead of total points. With a 3-6-1 record in conference, the Bobcats held a 1.00 points per game average, just higher than Buffalo's .909 average at 3-7-1.

Kent State wasted no time to show why its team is second in the Mid-American Conference with 32 goals. Only 1:43 into the game, Sara Henderson put the Flashes on the scoreboard with her second goal of the season.

The Bobcats put themselves into a deeper hole a mere 14 minutes later when Morgan Mah added another goal to Kent State’s total. In only 16 minutes, the Bobcats were down 2-0 in a crucial game to their playoff hopes, and their team became rattled.

The Bobcats’ offense could never get going throughout the game. Ohio only managed seven shots compared to Kent State’s 21. Ten of the Golden Flashes’ shots were on target, while Ohio only challenged Kent State goalie Stephanie Senn two times.

Although the Bobcats struggled to stop Kent State, they have taken some positives from this game.

In the losing effort, Ohio goalie Mattie Liston accounted for seven saves, moving her closer to breaking the program’s all-time record. The junior is now four saves away from rewriting the record books.

Also, a playoff seed was on the line heading into this game.

Because the Bobcats lost, they needed either Northern Illinois or Buffalo to lose. Northern Illinois won, but Buffalo lost in overtime to Akron on a golden goal.

With the Buffalo loss, Ohio just edged out the Bulls for the final playoff spot. The Bobcats, who finished the regular season with an 8-9-1 overall record, play at No. 1 seed Miami on Sunday at 1 p.m.