Sports
OU Soccer Drops Both Weekend Games
By: Nate Moore
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This past weekend was a difficult stretch for the Ohio Soccer team as they dropped both of their match-ups against Marshall University (1-0) and the University of Kentucky (3-0) and extended their losing streak to three games.
In their first game this past Friday against Marshall, Ohio put up a strong fight the whole 90 minutes but just could not catch a break and find a way to get the ball into back of the net. The first and only goal of the game occurred during the 33rd minute and came from Marshall’s Gabby Powers. Powers received a low tap from teammate Ashley Seltzer and took full advantage of the opportunity as she powered the ball into the upper 90 of the net to beat Ohio goalkeeper Sydney Malham.
For the rest of the game Ohio had multiple opportunities to score the coveted equalizing goal but in the end could not pull it off. Ohio’s best scoring opportunity came in the 74th minute when Celeste Fushimi-Karns headed a ball that looked to be the game-tying goal Ohio had been working for the whole game. However, Marshall goalkeeper Megan Bonelli would dash away Ohio’s hopes as she was able to get a touch on the ball and clear out her defensive lines. The game would end with an almost identical stat sheet between the two teams as each team had six shots on goal and recorded three corner kicks. Marshall would barely beat out Ohio in the saves column as they recorded six saves compared to Ohio’s five.
While their game against Marshall displayed what a equal, back-and-forth contest was like, Ohio’s game against Kentucky was on the other end of the spectrum as Ohio lost by a score of 3-0. In their match-up Ohio’s defense was dominated by the offense of Kentucky as Ohio would allow a total of 19 shots, nine of them on goal. The first score of the game came in the 29th minute as Kentucky’s Jessica Lazo hit the ball all the way from the left side of the box and into the right upper corner of the goal, giving Kentucky a 1-0 lead and Lazo her first goal of the season. From that point on Ohio would make numerous efforts on the offensive side of the pitch but Kentucky, similar to the Marshall game, would not show any openings in their defense as Ohio only managed to muster up a total of six shots, only three shots on goal.
Kentucky would ice the game late in the second half as Eva Mitchell received and scored her third goal of the season off a pass from the left side of the box from teammate Taya Edwards in the 78th minute. Only three minutes later in the 83rd minute, Kentucky midfielder Katy Keen made her own impact on the game as she got the ball at the top of the box and scorched a ball that went right past Ohio’s Sydney Malham and into the back of the net. The goal would be Keen’s first of the season and secured Kentucky’s win with a score of 3-0.
As Ohio looks forward to moving on from this difficult stretch of games this past weekend, the Bobcats need to sharpen up on both sides of the ball if they want to compete in their match-up this upcoming Friday against the University of Dayton Flyers. Ohio will need to step up their play from this weekend if they want their three game losing streak to come to a halt after Friday’s game.