Sports
Ohio Soccer Falls 2-1 on Senior Day
By: Jordan Gallagher
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Ohio soccer honored its seniors before the start of the Bobcats final home game of the season, in a celebration that turned out to be one of few reasons the ‘Cats had to cheer on the day as they fell to the Central Michigan Chippewas 2-1 on Sunday.
From the jump, the Bobcats looked jumbled, often missing easy passes and making critical mistakes on defense, but they soon got over their early game mistakes on offense and were able to move the ball and create opportunities. On the other side of the ball, however, the Bobcats consistently got beat on defense, but more often than not found a way to get the ball away from the Chippewas at the last second.
The part of Central Michigan’s attack that the Bobcats really had trouble stopping was the Chippewas counter attack. Ohio head coach Aaron Rodgers noted that his team had to look out for the counter attack, but it was still an issue that was the difference in the game.
With the scored tied at 1-1 and 15 minutes left in the game, the Chippewas were able to jump ahead as they scored off of a quick counter. They took the ball from one end of the field to the other in 20 seconds as Eliza Van de Kerkhove found herself with the ball in the box and tapped in a shot that turned out to be the game-winner.
Early on in the second half, it was the Bobcats who held the majority of the possession as they continued to find themselves with the ball in the Chippewas’ box.
After being held out on their first few opportunities, the ‘Cats finally broke the seal with Hannah Jaggers’ first goal of the season. Jaggers made a nice run down the field as she cut towards the middle of the box and put up a shot that glanced off the goal keeper and into the net to tie the game at the 52:49 mark.
After the goal from Van de Kerkhove, the Bobcats continued to apply pressure just as they had all game, but they were just unable to put the ball into the net. Their best opportunity to tie the game up came off of a corner in the 76th minute, but Alexis Milesky was unable to head the ball into the goal.
The loss drops the ‘Cats to 3-7 in conference play and 5-12 overall. They will now need to beat Kent State on the road on Thursday in their final game of the season.