Sports
Ohio Soccer’s season comes to an end against Buffalo in MAC Tournament
By: Marc Goldstein
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KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOUB) — As the seconds ticked off the clock and the reality set in for Ohio (11-5-4, 5-3-3 MAC), the entire lead up to this moment felt like a fever dream. Ohio’s season would come to a close against Buffalo (11-1-7, 5-1-5 MAC) in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Semifinals. This loss certainly stings for the team as it was attempting to follow last season’s first-ever berth into the NCAA Tournament with another. However, that dream was just that, a fleeting desire that was not realized.
The Bobcats faced the Bulls for the second time in as many weeks. In the first match, the Bulls were able to get a pair of second-half goals to lift themselves over the Bobcats in upstate New York. This match was played at a neutral site in Kalamazoo, Michigan, as the MAC Tournament was being hosted by the regular season champions, Western Michigan.
The match got off to a slow start for the first few minutes of play. Buffalo got the first real chance at the goal in the third minute of the match with a corner kick, but could not even manage a shot attempt. Ohio’s Eve Berish recorded the first shot for either team in the ninth minute of play, but it was off the mark. Buffalo got a little of movement offensively, getting a shot from Jasmine Guerber to find its way to the back of the net, giving it a 1-0 lead early in the match.
Similar to the first match, Guerber scored the first goal of the match for the Bulls. Unlike that first match, the Bobcats countered with some offense. They peppered MAC Goalkeeper of the Year, Lexie Thompson, with shots coming off the feet of Anna Burchett and Maia Kaufmann.
In the 26th minute, Buffalo had a shot of its own saved by Ohio goalkeeper Celeste Sloma. A costly foul by Buffalo granted Ohio a penalty kick in the 34th minute which freshman Lillian Weller snuck past Thompson for the equalizer.
The rest of the first half was a bit of a more offensive affair with Ohio getting a pair of corner kicks and some shots on goal, but could not push a second goal past Thompson for the lead.
The Bobcats had a pair of opportunities to emerge with the lead after Scout Murray got two shots to the upper left hand corner of the goal only for Thompson to save both of them. The Bobcats would continue their assault on the net, but simply could not beat Thompson off a set piece in this match. Seemingly, it did not matter who was shooting or where the shot went, there was no way to beat Thompson besides from a penalty kick.
Ohio was hoping to keep the match alive to get to penalty kicks, but Buffalo had other ideas. An offside call against Ohio right before the 80th minute gave Buffalo the opening to get down the field. Just a minute and a half later, Buffalo found pay dirt and got a shot by Kelly Severini past Sloma to give it a 2-1 lead it would not relinquish.
Despite Ohio’s season coming to a close earlier than expected, the reality is that head coach Aaron Rodgers is building a special program in Athens and should continue to compete for MAC titles. Next season, almost all of the production from a goal-scoring standpoint and goalkeeping standpoint will return. Although the loss will sting, a chance at redemption in the next season and beyond could help soften the blow.