Aug. 30, 2008
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
ATHENS, Ohio -
The No. 20 Ohio field hockey team commenced their 2008 campaign with a 3-2 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas (0-1) in the first game of the Ohio Invitational Tournament. The Bobcats (1-0) held a 3-0 lead midway through the second half and held on for their first win of the new season.
"I think we were good periodically throughout the game," said Ohio head coach Neil Macmillan. "We weren't as smooth and as clean as we needed to be throughout the whole time, but being the first game, I'm reasonably happy with the result."
Junior Patty Donahue (Powell, Ohio) found the back of the net first for Ohio, just over 13 minutes into the game, on an assist from senior Rachelle Coetzee (Bloemfontein, S.A.). The score would remain 1-0 in favor of the Bobcats for the remainder of the half, despite out-shooting the Hoyas 11-1.
Rachelle Coetzee pushed Ohio's lead to 2-0 a little over ten minutes into the second half, off a penalty corner. Seniors Nikki Gnozzio (Flanders, N.J.) and Lauren Stahlhuth (St. Louis, Mo.) each registered an assist on the goal. Minutes later, Rachelle's sister Estienne Coetzee (Bloemfontein, S.A.) joined in on the scoring action, stretching the Ohio lead to 3-0 with an unassisted goal.
"It feels good to get into game action because we've just been scrimmaging each other. It's much more exciting to go out there and play another team," said Rachelle Coetzee, who totaled three points in the game. "It was the whole team that helped create the goals and it was really just a team effort."
Georgetown would make a run at the Bobcats, as Maggie Farrand and Micaela O'Toole each notched a goal within a two-minute period with about 15 minutes left in the second half to cut the Bobcat lead to 3-2, but the Ohio defense stayed strong and held on for the victory in the teams' first-ever meeting.
"I think we just didn't take it to them for the last period of the game," Macmillan said. "We allowed two goals in a minute and thirty seconds and I think we were just falling back on our heels, not stepping up and playing as aggressively as we had been. It was a little disappointing because looking at the statistics we dominated the game, but sometimes you end up in close games because the other team takes advantage of the opportunity."
The Bobcats controlled much of the play, out-shooting the Hoyas 25-8 and held the advantage in penalty corners as well, 11-4. Rachelle Coetzee paced the `Cats with seven shots, four on goal, while junior Marcy Dull (Ephrata, Pa.) tallied six shots, with four on goal as well.
Senior captain Jessie Martin (Louisville, Ky.) made five saves in goal for Ohio, while Georgetown's Deirdre Crovo registered 11 saves in net.
The Bobcats take the field again Sunday in the finale of the Ohio Invitational Tournament, as they'll battle No. 7 James Madison, who defeated St. Louis in game two Saturday, 6-1.
"We go in as a bit of an underdog with James Madison being ranked No. 7," the coach said. "They're a good team, they're fast. They have lots of players we're very aware of and we're looking forward to it."
Faceoff for the showdown between ranked teams is slated for 2:30 p.m. at Pruitt Field in Athens.
