Aug. 31, 2008
Box Score
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A valiant rally late in the contest, and a goal from Amy Lower was not quite enough as Ohio soccer (1-1) fell just short to a strong Georgetown team (3-0), 2-1, late Sunday afternoon in the finale of the DC Invitational.
"Georgetown is a very good team," Ohio coach Stacy Strauss said. "We needed to raise our level of play to overcome their strengths, and I was really impressed with the resiliency of our team to fight back and continue to fight all the way to the end."
Coming off an emotional win over American in its season opener Friday, the Bobcats battled a tough Georgetown squad that returned much of its NCAA Tournament qualifying team from a year ago. While the Bobcats' defense turned in another strong defense, they were unable to break through a strong Hoya defense.
Both squads came out hard in the early going as neither squad was able to take control of the action. Ohio goalkeeper Jess MacLean (Loveland, Ohio) halted an early Hoya attempt to get on the board when she made a beautiful stop on a shot from Georgetown's Sara Jordan. The defenses for both sides remained solid and did not allow a shot for the next few minutes of play.
The Hoyas drew the first goal in the contest in the 21st minute when Toni Hudson took a hard shot that ricocheted off the goal post to teammate Kelly D'Ambrisi, who dumped it over to Jordan. She then snuck a quick shot just out of the reach of MacLean into the net to give Georgetown the early 1-0 advantage.
Not to be outdone, the Bobcats came back strong and broke through a tough Georgetown defense with a chance to even the tally. A shot from freshman Kelsey Pichel (Rochester, Mich.) sailed just wide of the corner of goal, however, and the Hoyas took the edge into the half. The Hoyas held the edge on shots 4-2, while MacLean picked up two saves.
The Bobcats' defense remained strong early in the second half, turning away several Georgetown opportunities to extend the lead. The Hoyas slipped in the second goal of the contest early in the 75th minute when Stephanie Gu Zare headed in a shot off an assist from Caitlin Durkee.
The action continued as Ohio's Amy Lower (West Chester, Ohio) slid a shot underneath the Georgetown keeper from the left side of the penalty box just 28 seconds later for her first goal of the season to cut the lead to 2-1. Freshman Laura Dieter (Wheaton, Ill.) picked up the first assist of her career on the play.
Despite picking up the needed momentum late, the Bobcats could not break through the Hoyas' defense remaining 15 minutes of play as Georgetown snubbed a couple of late Ohio chances to sneak out with the win. The Hoyas took 10 shots on the day, while Ohio turned in three. MacLean picked up four saves for the Bobcats.
"We had some chances late to tie things up," Strauss said. "We just couldn't get it through. Moving forward, we need to have that kind of ambitious and consistent play for a full 90 minutes."
Ohio will now return to Athens to open up the school year before heading to St. Paul next weekend for the Regina Moench Memorial Tournament Friday and Sunday. The Bobcats will take on host Minnesota in an 8 p.m. ET nightcap Friday before battling Northeastern Sunday morning at 11:30.
