Sports
Toledo Drops Ohio 2-1 at Chessa Field
< < Back toIn the rain and wind, Ohio soccer fell to the Toledo Rockets, 2-1. The loss puts Ohio’s chances to make it into the MAC tournament in doubt. The Bobcats lone score came from senior midfielder Cat Rogers. Unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome the Rockets’ early 2-0 lead.
Rogers’ goal, assisted by senior Erin Schwenke, was the 12th of her career, which ties her for 10th on Ohio’s all time list of leading scorers. Rogers said that she was unaware of her feat at the time she scored. Though visibly upset about the loss, she mentioned, “It’s always nice to see your hard work pay off,” in regards to her goal.
The Bobcats were unable to put up more than Rogers’ goal after they fell behind early in the contest. “We just dug ourselves into a hole,” said Rogers.
Toledo’s Rachel MacLeod scored her fourth and fifth goal of the season. Her first of the game came off of a corner kick that first bounced around in the box at 9:57. On a turnover in which MacLeod beat the defense to the ball, she scored her second goal of the game at 25:16.
Ohio’s junior goalkeeper Mattie Liston allowed two goals. Undoubtedly she was upset, however, despite allowing the goals she played well with nine saves on the day. She attributed her performance following the goals to her memory. Liston said “You have to have short term memory,” and, “if you get nervous bad things will happen.”
The goalkeeper’s performance today put her in a good place on the career save list. She only needs 15 more to become Ohio University’s career saves leader.
The game was played with a level of high intensity and physicality. Despite the loss, Rogers said it was one of the team’s best games because of the high level they played at. Liston mentioned that the team dealt well with the physicality, and head coach Stacey Strauss said that her team, “played tirelessly.”
Though both teams fought hard, the stat line does not read well for the Bobcats, as the Rockets were able to get off 11 shots on goal compared to Ohio’s three.
The first half was mostly dominated by the Rockets. They made eight of their 11 shots on goal in the first half. Most of the half was spent with Ohio on the defensive. Fortunately the Green and White’s defense was able to settle down in the second half, and the team played much better.
“We really pressed [Toledo] in the final 15 minutes,” said the Bobcat’s head coach. In those final 15 minutes Ohio had a great opportunity to score when one of their players collided with the Toledo goalkeeper, Kelsey Borowitz, outside of the box. Visibly shaken up, Borowitz was slow to return to the goal box; however Ohio was unable to manage a shot on the goal.
Disappointed by the loss, but satisfied by her team’s performance, Liston said, “We’re going to keep our heads up after this one.”
The loss today clouds the Bobcats path to the MAC tournament. They remain tied with Buffalo for eighth in the MAC, each with 7 points. With Northern Illinois defeating Kent State tonight, the Huskies now have 11 points, which distances them from Ohio by four points. NIU stands in seventh place.
The possible scenarios are endless as the regular season wraps up.
The Buffs have three more games to play, and the Huskies have two. Ohio needs to defeat Northern Illinois in their next game. Two more wins for Ohio and two more losses for Buffalo gives Ohio sole possession of eight place. Two more losses by Northern Illinois would bump Ohio into seventh place, as long as the Bobcats win out.
The Bobcats take on the Huskies of Northern Illinois, in their final home game at 1 p.m. Sunday.