Sports
Bobcats Move to Semi-Finals After Victory Over Kent State
By: Joey Madore
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For the first time since 2004, the Ohio Bobcats advance to the semi-finals of the Mid-American Conference tournament with a 2-1 victory over the Kent State Golden Flashes.
It was win or go home at Chessa Field on Sunday, and the Bobcats look to avenge their loss on Thursday against Kent State.
The game on Sunday was full of momentum swings, and the teams found themselves tied at 1-1 with just over 20 minutes left in regulation.
In the 68th minute, the Bobcats broke the deadlock.
Abby Townsend had the ball to the right of goal and fired a shot that was deflected away by Kent State’s goalie Faith O’Neill. There was a scramble for the ball in the middle of the box, but Ohio junior Sydney Leckie came streaking in to the box and flicked the ball past the keeper into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season and arguably her biggest.
“What a game winner it was to really have a great service in have the goalkeeper block it and then everybody fighting for that ball and we came out ahead scored the goal, so it was a fitting goal for a very gritty game,” Head coach Aaron Rodgers said.
The Bobcats back line held off the Golden Flashes the rest of the way and secured a 2-1 victory.
The Bobcats (9-7-3, 6-3-2) put Thursday’s game against Kent State (10-8-2, 6-4-1) behind them and pull out the victory in their rematch in the MAC quarterfinals.
After getting outshot by the Golden Flashes 12-11 on Thursday the Bobcats changed that narrative Sunday and outshot the Flashes 16-14 on Sunday.
Sydney Malham played strong in between the posts saving five shots. Kent State battled with Ohio all day long but came up just short and were ultimately eliminated from the MAC tournament.
After not scoring in their last game, Ohio looked to start off fast in the game on Sunday.
Following a Kent State shot from Cameron Shedenhelm hit the post the Bobcats started to click on offense. Ohio generated six shots before finally finding the back of the net.
After a Kent State foul Olivia Sensky whipped the free kick right in front of goal and Mandy Arnzen was on the other end of it as she slotted it past the Faith O’Neill to give Ohio the 1-0 advantage, and they would take that lead into halftime.
Kent State battled back in the second half and knotted the score at one when Vital Kats scored off a free kick for her eight goal of the season.
Ohio remained calm despite this and gtt the decisive goal from Leckie that propelled them into the semi-finals.
When asked about going on to play the top seeded Bowling Green in the next round, Coach Rodgers was confident in his team’s chances. “We know when we played them the score line wasn’t really indicative of how close the game was” Rodgers said. “We’re full of confidence and belief in each other, and we know we can go in their and get a result no doubt”.
The Bobcats will take on Bowling Green at Cochrane Soccer Stadium on Friday November 2nd and the time is TBA.