Oct. 25, 2008
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio - The Ohio field hockey team used a season-high five goals, including four in the second half, to knock off the visiting Ball State Cardinals, 5-1, Saturday afternoon at Pruitt Field. Five different Bobcats scored on the day, including freshman Jenna Green (Wescosville, Pa.) and sophomore Louzeth Schutte (Senekal, S.A.), who each earned their first-career goal in the win.
"Our effort in today's game was evident in practice all week," Ohio head coach Neil Macmillan said. "The team played this hard throughout the week and that was the key. You try to transfer what you do in practice into the games and that certainly showed today."
Ohio (7-10, 5-3 MAC) didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard, as Schutte tallied her first-ever goal in the ninth minute, blasting the ball into the cage after senior Rachelle Coetzee (Bloemfontein, S.A.) passed to her off a penalty corner.
Ball State (2-13, 1-6 MAC) knotted the game at one on senior Casey Hunsicker's unassisted goal at the 22:49 mark. The game remained in a 1-1 deadlock at the half, despite the 'Cats holding a 10-4 edge in shots.
Ohio struck early again, this time in the second half, as junior Marcy Dull (Ephrata, Pa.) notched her second goal of the season less than three minutes into the second stanza, redirecting a Jenna Green shot. Green earned her second-career assist on the goal.
Senior Nikki Gnozzio (Flanders, N.J.) stretched the lead to 3-1 on her fourth tally of the season, pushing home a rebound in front of the net. Green then scored her first goal as a Bobcat in the 60th minute, tapping in a cross from Coetzee, who earned her second assist on the day.
"It was exciting," Green said of her first goal. "We were able to get a run down the sideline and Rachelle (Coetzee) was able to pass it through the middle and I was there to put it in."
Just over three minutes later, Coetzee got into the scoring act, nabbing her team-leading 10th goal of the year, to round out the Bobcats' 5-1 victory.
"We talked at halftime about getting people into the attacking circle and Jenna (Green) came from her outside midfield position for an easy tap-in on her goal, which was nice," Macmillan said. "It was our movement prior to the goal that allowed it to happen. That's what we've been working on all week, being able to feed the ball through the midfield and create space for ourselves. It was by far our best goal of the season."
Ohio outshot the Cardinals 18-7 in the match and owned a 13-6 advantage in shots on goal. Both squads earned five penalty corners. Rachelle Coetzee paced Ohio with five shots, while Schutte and junior Taylor Anderson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) each took three. With her five shots, Coetzee moved into fourth place on Ohio's career shots list with 224. Senior Jodi Mann paced Ball State with three shots.
Senior goalie Jessie Martin (Louisville, Ky.) stopped four shots in 63 minutes of action for Ohio to earn her seventh win of the season, before being replaced by freshman Jen McGill (Louisville, Ky.), who made her first-career save in the final seven minutes of the contest. BSU junior keeper Tiffany Shifflett made eight saves in 64 minutes, with seven coming in the first frame.
All 18 Bobcats who were dressed saw the field in the game.
Ohio improved to 26-33 all-time against the Cardinals. The 'Cats have now won five straight, including the regular season series sweep, and 20 of the last 21 matches against Ball State. Ohio has also now beaten BSU 10-consecutive games in Athens.
The Bobcats return to action Sunday, for their final home match of the season, against Miami (11-6, 5-3 MAC) on Senior Day. Both the RedHawks and Bobcats sit in a second-place tie in the conference, with the winner of tomorrow's match gaining an inside track on one of the two MAC Tournament byes. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Pruitt Field. Fans that can't make the match can follow the action live via Gametracker on OhioBobcats.com.
