Sports
Ohio’s Drops Third Straight In Eastern Michigan
By: Kellen Becoats
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Eastern Michigan redshirt senior Chelsie Oddan sunk all hope of Ohio getting any points out of this weekend as her 83rd minute winner handed the Bobcats a 2-1 loss on Sunday.
In the second game of their three-game Mid-American Conference road trip, the Bobcats (6-10, 3-5) came up against one of the stronger teams in the MAC. The Eagles (9-5-1, 5-3) currently lead the MAC West division, and they proved their quality immediately by blistering Ohio with shots early in the game.
And on Sunday it was a different player in between the posts trying to stop most of those shots as senior Rachel Fryan received her first start of the season. It was a surprise not to see the usual starter—senior Nicole Amari—behind the back line but Fryan did reasonably well in her debut.
Sophomore Kinsey Swartztrauber and freshman Katie McCurley also made their way on to the pitch for the first time this season.
Ohio coach Aaron Rodgers did well to show off the depth of his midfield options against Eastern Michigan, but it is one of his forwards that he will look to for positives on the day.
Sophomore Lexi Milesky scored her fourth goal of the season the 24th minute, equaling her season total from last year. And the goal was a solid one, as Milesky capitalized on a senior Annie Beard header that rebounded off the crossbar. Her goal came in the 24th minute and was the equalizer after Eastern Michigan went ahead early on.
The Eagles were working the Ohio defense hard in the opening minutes and it took them less than 15 minutes to open up the scoring.
Senior Angela Vultaggio crossed the ball into the 18-yard box and found her teammate, senior Bianca Rossi, who put Eastern Michigan ahead, 1-0.
After Milesky’s equalizer, both teams looked to unlock each other’s defense, but it took until near the end of the game for the winning goal to come. And for the Eagles it was well worth the wait.
In the 83rd minute, Oddan received the ball from 18 yards out and chipped the ball over Fryan, floating the ball into the back of the net to secure the win for the Eagles and keeping them at the top of the MAC West.
This was the first weekend all season that the Bobcats have failed to secure any points. But with opponents such as Central Michigan and Toledo coming up next week, Ohio could sneak into MAC Tournament contention.
The Bobcats kick off against Central Michigan on Friday at 3 p.m. in Mount Pleasant, Mich.