Sports
Ohio Soccer: Senior Leckie pushes Bobcats win on senior day
By: Max Brunke
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The Ohio Bobcats (9-6-1, 4-3-1 MAC) finished off their home schedule with a dominant 1-0 victory on their Senior day over the Eastern Michigan Eagles (4-10-2, 3-5 MAC)
The Bobcats were coming into today’s game following a 2-1 victory over Central Michigan. The double header weekend can be tough, but the girls’ were confident that they could make the seniors proud with a win today.
“Obviously the second game in a weekend is always a challenge but I think we were prepared for this,” Ohio Head Coach Aaron Rodgers said.
Senior midfielder Sydney Leckie tacked on the only goal of the contest in the 75th minute to push the Bobcats to a 1-0 win today at Chessa Field.
She knew that a goal could help secure the win, but her mind was only on completing the play to make dreams become reality.
“I was just focused on getting a controlled touch and getting it into the back of the net,” Leckie said.
Leckie managed to record two shots on target today, scoring one of them with a beautiful chip over Eastern Michigan goalkeeper Chelsea Abbotts. Though it was an impressive piece of skill, she credits her teammates for boosting her into that moment.
“It comes down to all 28 players, so I couldn’t have done it without them,” Leckie said.
As big of a day as it was for the seniors going forward, it was equally as big for the seniors tracking back and preserving the win for the Bobcats.
“I think we worked really hard as a defensive group,” Senior defender Victoria Breeden said about their shutout today. “It’s all about that grit back there. When we show the grit, we get the shutout.”
The Bobcats shutout today was their 4th all season, while only conceding 1 goal or less in 12 of their 16 games. As the season winds down, they’ll be looking to continue their impressive defensive trend.
These five seniors today deserve to be praised for the hard work they’ve put into their careers here at Ohio University, and Rodgers understands the importance of having them not only as leaders this year, but for what they’ve contributed over the years.
“I don’t have any words to describe how awesome they are and how much they mean to this program,” Rodgers said. “We are going to miss them sorely as individuals, but the legacy they’ve left will live on and on.”
The Bobcats will finish off the regular season with three straight away games at Miami (3-11-1, 2-5-1 MAC) next Thursday, Ball State (12-4, 6-2 MAC) next Sunday, then Kent State (5-7-3, 3-3-2 MAC) to cap off the season the following Thursday.