Sept. 5, 2006

Box Score

ATHENS , Ohio - Freshman defender Rachael Goulding ( Toronto, Ontario ) made her first career collegiate goal count, tallying the only goal in a 1-0 Bobcat shutout of Robert Morris Tuesday afternoon at Chessa Park .

Goulding's score came just 1:35 into the contest. After the Colonials knocked the ball over their own end line, junior Lindsey Price ( West Chester, Ohio ) set up for the corner kick and sent the cross to the far side of the goal. Goulding was in perfect position and headed it past Colonial keeper Jessica Onufer for the goal. The assist was the first of the season for Price.

The freshman duo of Jess MacLean ( Loveland, Ohio ) and Dominique Wright ( Durango, Colo. ) shut down the Colonial offense. MacLean played the entire first half and recorded one save while Wright was in net for the second half and made two saves. MacLean earned the win in goal to move to 1-2-0 on the year. The Bobcats doubled up the Colonials in shots on goal and corner kicks by a count of six to three in each category. Ohio also tallied six less fouls than Robert Morris by a total of 15-9.

"I think our defense was a bit more organized than we had been in the last few games," Head Coach Stacy Strauss said. "We looked to possess out of our defense a lot more as well. Erika Schmitt got forward a lot and we had the help of Kate Fledderjohn and Kristen Miller on the other side looking to get forward as well."

Robert Morris' best chance to tie the match came with about 17 minutes remaining in the first half, when the Colonials were awarded an indirect free kick 20 yards in front of the Ohio goal. After a touch pass, a hard shot bounced off the Ohio line and back to Hilary Nellis. Nellis fired it just high and the ball deflected off the crossbar and past the end line.

The Bobcats had chances of their own to extend the lead. Late in the half, a Bobcat shot also sailed just high off the crossbar. Ten minutes into the second half, freshman Jasmine Merith ( Richmond Hills, Ontario ) sent a cross perfectly through the middle of the box but nobody was home to take the point blank shot.

In the end the defense and goal keeping was enough to preserve the lead and the Bobcats improved to 1-2-0 on the season with the win. The Colonials drop to 1-3-0 on the season and have dropped three straight matches.

The Bobcats will hit the road for a contest at Xavier this Friday. The match is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. in Cincinnati .