Sept. 19, 2008
ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio controlled the action for the second-straight game, but it could not overcome a season-best effort from Xavier as the Musketeers took advantage of two early goals to take the 2-0 victory Friday night at Chessa Field.
After putting up a season-high 15 shots their last time out, the Bobcats followed it up with a solid 11 shots. While the final tally showed the shots to be equal, it was Ohio that controlled the majority of the action. Unfortunately, it was simply unable to take advantage of several possible scoring opportunities as Xavier put together a series of clutch defensive stops and enjoyed its best offensive output of the season to come away with the win.
"The opportunities were there to score," Ohio coach Stacy Strauss said. "We just need to make it easier for ourselves to finish. It is important to keep moving forward and progressing as a group. We'll continue to do that."
The Musketeers took advantage of a slow Bobcat start right off the bat. Freshman Jessica Brooks put the first tally of the contest on the board 35 seconds in when she snuck a shot from 10 yards out just out of the reach of Ohio goalkeeper Jess MacLean and into the bottom left corner of the net. The Bobcats responded by keeping the action on their half of the pitch for the next 20 minutes of play, but Xavier's defense battled hard to keep Ohio off the board.
Brooks struck the `Cats again in the 21st minute when she raced just ahead of the Ohio defense to take a pass from teammate Carissa Gilbert. Now one-on-one with the keeper, Brooks tapped it just past MacLean and into the net to give the Musketeers the 2-0 advantage and record her second goal of the contest. The Bobcats once again had opportunities on their side of the field, but once again Xavier managed to turn them away to keep the lead going into the half. Each side managed five shots for the period with MacLean picking up a save.
Ohio came out fired up in the second half and once again put the Musketeers on the defensive. Senior Courtney Mink and freshman Laura Dieter outmaneuvered Xavier to put themselves in a two-on-one situation about 15 minutes into the half. Mink took a quick touch pass from Dieter and looked to put a Bobcat goal on the board, but a Musketeer defender managed to get her foot in the way just at the right angle of Mink's shot to thwart the opportunity.
Sophomore Jackie Hanson gave the `Cats yet another chance to put up a mark with about 20 minutes of play left. Having run past the majority of the Xavier defense, she found herself with a wide lane straight to the goal. Once again, the defense responded quickly and deflected a near-sure goal away. Ohio continued to keep the ball in favorable positions the remainder of the match and had a pair of corner-kick chances, but it simply could not get it between the goalposts as the Musketeers left with the win.
Five different Bobcats tallied two shots on the match, with senior Erika Dietz putting both of hers on goal. Freshmen Laura Dieter and Rachael Philpot joined Mink, Hanson and Dietz with a pair of shots. Juniors Christa Puccio and MacLean split time in the pipes.
There will be little rest for Ohio as it jumps right back into action Sunday afternoon when Marshall comes to town. Action is set to get under way at 1 p.m. ET.
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