Sports
Ohio Soccer: Bobcats Drop Senior Day Match to Buffalo
By: Max Brunke
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The Ohio Bobcats (3-7) fell to the Buffalo Bulls (6-1-1) in a tough 1-0 loss Sunday afternoon.
Although the Bobcats were dominant in possession throughout the game, the score line favored the Bulls in the end.
The only goal of the contest came in the 29th minute from senior forward Marcy Barberic, who finished a wonderful cross from sophomore midfielder Leah Wengender to give Buffalo the 1-0 lead.
Plenty of chances were flowing for Ohio, and junior forward Abby Townsend was at the center of most of them. The best of her first half chances came in the 34th minute, as she beat two Buffalo defenders on the dribble and whipped a left-footed effort towards the back post but it flew just wide.
By halftime, the match was visibly in the Bobcats favor, but the Bulls were more efficient in finishing their chances. They only managed two shots and one on target by that point, but their interplay was stellar.
“This has been a really interesting 10-game season,” Ohio coach Aaron Rodgers said. “We’ve shown our quality, but we’ve missed in critical moments.”
Each of these teams were split pretty even in the second half, but Ohio continued to have the better chances. Buffalo’s best effort came in the 61st minute, when Wengender hit a beautiful curler around 30 yards out, but it just barely sailed over the bar.
However, it wouldn’t take long for Townsend to reclaim the spotlight. In the 69th minute, she fired her best shot of the entire game from the left side of the pitch across her body, and it looked to surely curve into the side netting. Junior goalkeeper Emily Kelly was having none of it though, stretching out for an incredible save to parry away what would be the Bobcats last best chance to equalize.
At the conclusion of this match, Ohio finished the season 3-7, a disappointing finish by coach Rodgers standards. However, injuries plagued the Bobcats throughout the season, losing senior goalkeeper Sydney Malham for the last five games and Townsend missing out on three mid-season.
Ohio will turn around in just a couple of months and begin their second season of 2021 where they’ll hope to utilize this odd 10-game seasons’ experience to improve their game.
