Sports
Soccer: Radosavljevic, DePaul Defeat Ohio, 3-1
< < Back to soccer-radosavljevic-depaul-defeat-ohio-3-1It only took one minute and one player to change the outcome of Friday night’s soccer match between the Ohio Bobcats and DePaul Blue Demons.
DePaul’s Natasa Radosavljevic booted her first two goals of the season in the 53rd and 54th minutes, which ultimately proved to be the momentum changer in the Blue Demons’ 3-1 win.
Just eight minutes into the second half, Erin Pekovitch crossed the ball into the box and got it past Ohio defender Gabby Hausfeld. She found Radosavljevic five feet in front of the goal, and the forward easily tapped it into the back of the net.
That was the story of the night for the Bobcats on defense, as the front line for DePaul often caught them leaning in and found the back of the net as a result.
“It wasn’t our best effort,” Ohio coach Aaron Rodgers said on his defense. “But to be fair, they had some very dynamic players up front. It was a good opportunity for us to face some dynamic forwards like that.”
Radosavljevic scored her second goal a minute later, collecting the rebound of a Mattie Liston save and putting it in the back of the net. Liston, Ohio’s all-time leader in saves with 302, started her first match of the season, recording four saves and allowing three goals.
The Bobcats outshot DePaul, 15-10, and had 10 corner kicks compared to the Blue Demons’ one. As it has been throughout this three game home stretch, Ohio had the opportunities but couldn’t convert.
“DePaul, give credit to them, we made a couple mistakes and they capitalized,” Rodgers said. “If you look at the shot and the corner kick total again, we had the advantage, but we’ve got to finish our chances. I said to the girls at halftime that the game’s going to be decided on a physical nature.”
Ohio’s one goal came in the 35th minute off a penalty kick by Erin Feeney. The kick was a result of a handball in the box by DePaul’s Rebekah Roller. It was Feeney’s first goal of her Bobcat career.
“I was happy for a couple seconds. It was actually my first goal since I’ve been here, so that’s good,” Feeney said. “But I mean I got back into the game because we were tied at that point.”
Ohio’s Holly Harris led the team with three shots on goal, while DePaul’s Radosavljevic finished with two goals and Pekovitch had two assists. Ana Greik scored the first goal of the match for the Blue Demons, making it the third straight match Ohio’s opponent had scored the first goal.
The Bobcats hit the road for the first time this season, as they play at Eastern Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m. The two teams have never played each other. The Colonels are 0-3 on the season and recently lost on the road to Kentucky, 7-0.
“We’ve got to keep going with what we’re doing, and I think the girls are possessing the ball well,” Rodgers said. “We’re creating chances. We’ve just got to learn how to score. We’ve got to learn how to win.”