Sports

Ohio soccer remains undefeated in MAC play with comeback win over Eastern Michigan

By: Payton Brooker
Posted on: Thursday, October 21, 2021

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — A game between two  MAC teams gave the fans a show to watch Thursday afternoon as the Ohio Bobcats (11-3-2, MAC 7-0-2) defended their undefeated MAC record against the Eastern Michigan Eagles (2-11-3, MAC 1-6-2) in a 2-1 victory.

The Bobcats were in possession of the ball for most of the first half and didn’t let the Eagles control the ball until near the end of the half when the Eagles would score.

Head coach Aaron Rodgers believed the first half was a impressive start, but was a work in-progress.

“I don’t think we played poorly in the first half,” Rodgers said.  “We had majority of possession and majority of opportunities. I just think we played a little passive in the first half.”

The second half of the game gave the Bobcats their winning edge as they would score their two goals by senior Haley Miller assisted by Madison Clayton and the go-ahead goal by sophomore Shae Robertson of an assist by Regan Berg and Sarina Dirrig that could be on anyone’s play of the week.

“Afterwards, I was just so shocked that I just looked at the sides to make sure I wasn’t offsides,” Robertson said.

Robertson’s performance on the pitch was key into helping her team picking up the win as she made plays with the ball and made plays on the defensive side to keep the Eagles from scoring in the second half.

The defense was also a thrilling factor for the Bobcats Thursday.  The Bobcats only allowed eight shots with only the one goal on target for the day.

Another factor coming into play Thursday was the foul trouble by Eastern Michigan.  A total of four yellow cards were issued by the referee and three of those cards were towards the Eagles.

“For this team to really pushing each other and really believing in one another, there is no one special more than this team,” Rodgers said.

The Bobcats played with an aggressive mind set towards this Eagle squad and has the sprit of one another to continue their success heading into the final two games of this regular season. Shae adds to this by speaking on how the disappointment of last season was taken to heart and really motivated this team to succeed. “I think everybody took last season really personally and did everything they needed to do individually to get better”.

After this win, The Bobcats will now have cliched a spot for the MAC tournament as they will continue their success by going to face-to-face against Central Michigan on road Sunday at 1 p.m. This and their last home regular season game against Kent State gives this team a chance to go unbeaten in the MAC.