Oct. 11, 2009
Final Stats
OXFORD, Ohio - What a weekend it was for Ohio Field Hockey. The `Cats (5-7, 3-2 MAC), coming off of a two-goal victory at Ball State Saturday, stormed into Oxford with their eyes on the prize in an important Mid-American Conference showdown with Miami. The Green and White, led by a Katherine Ballard goal in the 34th minute, held the potent Redhawk offense to zero goals on only 10 shots.
"We played a really good first half and took care of our opportunities," said head coach Neil Macmillan. "In the second half we really defended the whole time. They played exceptionally well and put us under a ton of pressure but our defense was resolute and managed to hold them off."
The `Cats did a great job both offensively and defensively. Though only accumulating five shots, Ohio managed to get the only one that counted. Katelyn Shelley (Ephrata, Pa.) provided yet another assist on Ballard's (Charlottesville, Va.) team-leading seventh goal of the season.
Despite a strong Miami attack in the second half, the Ohio defense held firm.
"Courtney (Seiders) made a couple of key saves," said Macmillan. "Defensively I think it was the back three of Jenna (Green), Brittany (Zorn) and Nina (Bruno) who held them off and did a fantastic job."
The `Cats performed no small feat in defeating Miami (8-7. 5-2 MAC), let alone shutting them out. The Redhawk offense was humming along at a clip of 3.07 goals and 14.8 shots per game. Shutting them out and only allowing ten shots (four on goal, all saved by Seiders) is quite an accomplishment that the team will look to build off of throughout the remainder of the season.
On the subject of the remainder of the season, the `Cats completed their final road game of the regular season schedule today, and now head home for six in a row. The next game is scheduled for Friday, October 16 when Ohio hosts 2008 MAC champion Kent State. Game time is set for 3 pm.
