Sports
Ohio holds on to defeat Eastern Michigan, 1-0, extend unbeaten streak
By: Marc Goldstein
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Ohio (8-1-4, 3-0-3 MAC) was able to ride an early goal to pick up yet another win, extending its unbeaten streak to 11 matches in a 1-0 victory over Eastern Michigan (5-4-4, 1-1-4 MAC).
The match started off slow with some defensive play by both teams being highlighted by a couple nifty stops by each goalkeeper. Eastern Michigan’s Ella Holland was able to shut down multiple attempts by Ohio. Holland’s counterpart, Celeste Sloma, was able to match her save for save, albeit on fewer attempts.
Ohio broke the ice by getting the game’s first corner kick with 41:41 to go in the first half. The attempt would ultimately be off target, but that would set the stage for more offense in the coming minutes. Eastern Michigan responded with a corner kick of its own just over a minute later, but that attempt would also miss the target.
That would be the final chance for a goal for the Eagles for quite a long time as the Bobcats’ defense clamped down on the middle of the field, not allowing many passes into or around the penalty box. Despite getting a trio of first-half corners, the Eagles could only put one shot on the board in the first half.
Ohio, conversely, would find some success pushing the ball up the field. On a broken set piece, the Bobcats would watch as Eastern Michigan picked up a penalty, giving Aubrey Rea a free kick from just outside the box. Going around a wall of three Eastern Michigan defenders, Rea would put a shot to the right of the goal past Holland to give Ohio a 1-0 lead. Rea’s goal was her third of the season, tying her for second on the team.
Ohio’s key absence, Scout Murray, was felt, but not to a point of insurmountability. Murray missed her second straight game with injury, but her teammates picked up the slack and took advantage of opportunities.
“Obviously, missing [Murray] is big for us,” Ohio head coach Aaron Rodgers said. “I think we’re very confident in the depth of this team and we have a lot of players who can step up and fill those roles.”
The Bobcats would start the second half with more defense, adding to the issues for the Eagles offensively. That being said, the struggles for the Eagles’ offense did not translate over to their defense as they cleaned up some mistakes, keeping the Bobcats from getting many good chances on net.
The sequence in the second half that Ohio likely wished it had back was a broken play where Eastern Michigan and Holland were caught in a sloppy play, allowing Ohio to fire off a good shot on goal, only for it to miss its target.
Eastern Michigan’s offense woke from its slumber in the final few minutes, getting a couple of shots and corners in the waning minutes. The attempt to tie the score would be for nothing as Sloma was able to weather the storm and preserve the shutout.
Regardless, the defense for Ohio stepped up and kept Sloma’s job easy as she only faced five shots, four of which were on goal. Sloma saved all of them, adding another clean sheet to her tally that reached eight with her performance on Thursday.
The Eagles have scored the second-fewest goals in the MAC this season with 11. Behind Sloma and the defense’s effort, that number remained the same.
“It’s a credit to the defense,” Sloma said. “It, honestly, has nothing to do with me. Those four that play with me every game [defensively] are such a key part of this team’s success and the communication and how well we get along off the pitch really helps that as well.”
Ohio, led by dominant defense and a burgeoning offense that is bound to get some reinforcements in the coming matches, looks to be a force to be reckoned with in the MAC. Ohio is now one of two teams who have yet to lose a match in conference play. With the large cluster of teams at the top of the conference standings, the race for the top seed in the conference tournament will only continue to heat up in the final five matches for Ohio.