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Field Hockey: Ohio loses to physical Iowa


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“I don’t think anything went wrong,” Ohio’s Taylor Brown said, following a 2-1 loss vs. No. 17 Iowa on Sunday. “I think we fought, and we had plenty of opportunities. We just didn’t put them in when we needed to.”

Coming into the game, Ohio had outshot opponents 210-65. Sunday was no different, as the Bobcats outshot Iowa 14-4 and put 12 of those shots on goal. Ohio seemed to dominate possession with nine shots and six corners in the first half but failed to capitalize on those opportunities, as the score was tied at one at the intermission.

Jessica Barnett scored the go-ahead goal for Iowa, her third of the season, assisted by Geena Lesiak, in the 54th minute. The game-winner came off a corner for the Hawkeyes.

This was not a conference loss for Ohio, but head coach Neil Macmillan was still disappointed not to come out on top.  

“They’re good…that’s something we were expecting coming into the game…it’s a different style.”

The Hawkeyes were the third ranked team Ohio has played this season (the ‘Cats defeated #6 Ohio State in Columbus on August 31 and beat #8 American in overtime on September 10), and according to coach Macmillan, Iowa were the most physical team Ohio has seen.

Iowa’s Kim Scraper received a Green Card for a foul in the 49th minute, and Ohio’s Louzeth Schutte suffered an apparent face injury when a stick hit her early in the second period.

When asked if she would miss any games, Macmillan said, “I can’t tell you right now.”

Ohio had its chance to tie the game on a penalty corner in the 64th minute. Cathryn Altdoerffer attempted a shot that went past Iowa goalkeeper Kathleen McGraw but just wide of the post. Prior to the corner, Macmillan had called timeout to talk things over.

McGraw played very well for the Hawkeyes, allowing just one goal on 14 shots with 10 saves.

Ohio’s Marissa Higgins scored the first goal of the day, her second this year, assisted by Altdoerffer in the 27th minute. Iowa answered 69 seconds later on Scraper’s unassisted equalizer, her 16th of the season.

Ohio (11-3, 4-0 MAC) hosts Kent State (5-8, 3-1 MAC) in its next game on Friday, October 14.