Sept. 28, 2008
Box Score
KENT, Ohio - For the first time since 2001, the Ohio field hockey team won at Kent State during the regular season, nabbing a 1-0 victory. With the win, the Bobcats (4-5, 2-0 MAC) have now started Mid-American Conference play 2-0 every season under head coach Neil Macmillan (four years). Preseason MAC-favorite and 20th-ranked (Womensfieldhockey.com Poll) Kent State fell to 6-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
"The one thing I was most pleased about over the game today was the team's discipline to stay with the game plan," Macmillan said. "We put in a good plan as a staff and the team executed it. We took away there options. Kent's attack has been high-flying so far this season, so to limit their top players to three shots in the game was amazing. The key thing for me was sticking to what the team prepared for."
Ohio came out firing, taking five of the first six shots in the game, but went into the half knotted at zero. The `Cats held a 7-6 shot advantage at the break, and also earned six penalty corners to the Golden Flashes' two in the first frame.
Senior Nikki Gnozzio (Flanders, N.J.) found the back of the net off a penalty corner in the 53rd minute for Ohio, in what would be the game's lone goal. The unassisted goal was Gnozzio's second of the season, both of which have been game-winners.
"We ran an option off the corner where the ball goes back to Nikki (after she sends it in)," Macmillan said. "On her first shot the keeper made a good save, but she lifted the rebound over the goalie, who was already on the ground, to score the goal from a tough angle."
The goal would be all the Bobcats needed to earn the victory over the Golden Flashes. The win was Ohio's first on Kent State's 4-year-old Murphy-Mellis field, giving everyone on the team a new experience. With the victory, Macmillan has now defeated every MAC opponent at home and on the road during his tenure with the Bobcats.
Ohio outshot Kent State 12-8 in the game, as senior Rachelle Coetzee (Bloemfontein, S.A.) paced the `Cats with five shots. Freshman Debbie Bell's three shots led the Flashes. The Bobcat defense allowed only two KSU shots to reach the goal, while Ohio fired six shots on goal.
"I think our back four defensively did a great job taking away Kent State's forwards," Macmillan said. "We did it more so in the second half than the first half. They had some sustained pressure in the second half, but their fast-breaking style was more effective in the first half, so to show our stamina throughout the second half was really exciting for me."
The Bobcats also held the edge in penalty corners, 9-3.
Ohio senior goalie Jessie Martin (Louisville, Ky.) pitched her ninth career shutout and first of the season, having to only make one save. Kent State sophomore goalie Caroline Suitch made five saves in net.
The Bobcats will go for their third-straight win when they return to action Saturday, Oct. 4 as they travel to Muncie, Ind. to take on the Ball State Cardinals. Game time is set for 1 p.m. ET.
