Aug. 29, 2008

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Bobcat women's soccer team (1-0) defeated the American Eagles (0-2) in dramatic fashion, 2-1, Friday afternoon in the opening game of the DC Invitational hosted by Georgetown. The game marked the start of the regular season for the Bobcats and also the first-ever meeting between Ohio and American. Last weekend the Eagles began their season with a tough 2-1 overtime loss to the Hoyas.

At halftime, the contest was scoreless, with American owning the edge in shots 5-2 and corners 3-2. Junior keeper Jess MacLean (Loveland, Ohio) notched four saves off the Eagles' five shots on goal. The Bobcats substituted early and often in the first half, giving the younger players a chance to see action to start the regular season.

Senior forward Courtney Mink (Mason, Ohio) opened the scoring in the 56th minute to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead early in the second half. She lobbed a shot over the head of American keeper Arianna Efstathiou from outside the penalty area to record her first goal of the season. Jackie Hanson, a sophomore from LaGrange, Ill., assisted on the play.

Late in the game, American struck to tie it with a goal from freshman Mikaila Weaver in the 86th minute. MacLean was pulled out of the net in a fight for the ball and Weaver was able to tap it in for her first goal of the season. Less than a minute later, Ohio rallied to take the lead for good on a game-winner by freshman Kim Nordtveit (Newtown, Pa.) off a cross from junior defender Rachael Goulding (Toronto, Ont.) that snuck passed the keeper into the lower left corner of the net.

The Bobcats finished the game with 7 shots to American's 12. Goalkeeper Jess MacLean tallied eight saves in her first win of the season. The Eagles were led by junior Kelsey Brasher who finished with four shots, three of them on frame.

Ohio Coach Stacy Strauss, in her ninth year with the program, was pleased with the performance of her team, especially in the second half.

"It was an exciting game. We were a little passive in the first half. We defended well but were not attacking enough. The second half we did a better job of defending up the field and being more aggressive," Strauss said. "Jess MacLean gave a great individual performance in goal and secured the victory for us. We had good individual performances all over the field and also good bench play. I used more subs than expected, but they came in and raised the level of play. Now we're looking forward to a competitive contest on Sunday."

The Bobcats return to action Sunday, Aug. 31, at 2:30 p.m. at host Georgetown (1-0), the first-ever meeting with the Hoyas.