Oct. 21, 2007
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
ATHENS, Ohio - Torrie Albini scored three times and the Ohio defense limited the opposition to three shots Sunday, as the 15th-ranked Bobcats took down Missouri State, 6-0, on Senior Day at Peggy Pruitt Field.
Ohio improves to 14-4 on the season and 8-1 in the Mid-American Conference. The Bobcats also closed out their regular season home slate with a flawless 6-0 record, marking an eight-game home winning streak that dates back to Nov. 3 of last year. Missouri State falls to 1-17 overall and 0-8 in the MAC.
With the win, Ohio keeps its lead atop the MAC standings with one game remaining in the regular season.
The Bobcats' 14 wins is the most wins any Bobcat field hockey club has had in five years and ties for third place in the Ohio record book for most wins in a single-season.
Albini (Escondido, Calif.) gave Ohio a 2-0 lead at the half after scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes of play. She opened up scoring at the 3:12 mark off an assist from Katelyn Shelley (Ephrata, Pa.). Her second goal came at the 20:28 mark as she shot it pass the Bears' goalie unassisted.
Out of the break, it was still all Albini. The senior took a pass from Lauren Stahlhuth (St. Louis, Mo.) and Nikki Gnozzio (Flanders, N.J.) at the 43:14 mark and notched her 16th goal of the season.
"Today was a special day for the seniors," said Albini. "You always know that the end is going to come, but when it actually comes, you really want to go out with a bang and that's what I tried to do today. I wanted to put on a good show for the fans."
Albini's 16 goals this season ties her for fifth all-time with Becky Walters (1981) for most goals in a single-season. Albini also has 45 career goals, which is second all-time in Bobcat history.
"Torrie took over right at the start," said Head Coach Neil Macmillan. "That is what she does. She can score at will and can set our defense up, and is just very beneficial to us."
Patty Donahue (Powell, Ohio) found the back of the net for the first time this season with a tip-in off a feed from Albini at the 48:04 mark. Shelley scored the `Cats fifth goal of the game and her fifth goal of the season at the 55:39 mark off a quick pass from Marcy Dull (Ephrata, Pa.) on a 2-on-1 match-up with Missouri State's goalkeeper.
Taylor Anderson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored Ohio's final goal on an assist from Albini. It was the first goal of Anderson's career and the Bobcats 52nd goal of the season.
Ohio finished with 30 shots, including 18 on goal, and managed 11 penalty corners. Missouri State took six total shots, including three on goal, and was awarded four penalty corners.
"I think our play today shows how far we've come as a team," said Macmillan. "We dominated them at their place, but playing on our home turf helped a huge amount. Today we really dominated. It was one-way traffic all the way through. Other than a couple of early opportunities for them, we really shut them down and just played very good team hockey."
Senior Katherine Claeys (Lake Forest, Ill.) made the first start of her career in goal for Ohio. Claeys made a career-high three saves in her first shutout win ever.
"I was really excited," said Claeys. "I wanted to come out strong with the team, play, and come out with a win. I think it was just a great team effort."
The Bobcats head to Central Michigan on Oct. 26 to close out the regular season against the Chippewas at 3 p.m.
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Quenjana Adams is the field hockey contact in the Ohio media relations office. She can be reached via email at adamsq@ohio.edu and in the office at 740-593-1299.
