Oct. 16, 2009
Final Stats
ATHENS, Ohio - The Bobcats brought their winning streak with them upon returning to Pruitt Field Friday, upending the Mid-American Conference-leading Kent State Golden Flashes by a score of 2-1. The game was deadlocked at one until a 69th minute goal by Brooke Edwards put the Green and White ahead for good. The goal was a career first for the sophomore from Milford, Pa.
"It was amazing," said Edwards. "Honestly, I thought that I was going to hit the top corner."
The `Cats saw stellar play from both their offense and defense Friday, outshooting Kent State by a total of 15-8. Caroline Suitch made six saves in net for the `Flashes while Courtney Seiders (Mt. Joy, Pa.) stopped three en route to earning her fourth victory of the season.
The match began with both sides trading possession and really scouting one another out. Much of the play was contained in the midfield with a few chances here and there. A Patty Donahue shot and a strike on goal by Debbie Bell marked the first twenty minutes of the match, with each goalkeeper being equal to the attempts.
Ohio put together a flurry of attempts on goal just after the 20-minute mark, with Katherine Ballard (Charlottesville, Va.), Marcy Dull (Ephrata, Pa.) and Cathryn Altdoerffer (Conestoga, Pa.) pressuring the Kent defense with shots. One went wide, one was blocked and Dull's attempt was stopped by Suitch to keep the scores level going into halftime.
Just seven minutes into the second stanza, Dull almost found the back of the net in the midst of some great Ohio offensive pressure. Her two shots, quite literally back-to-back, were both met by Suitch and turned aside. The teams then settled into possession play for much of the remaining match, biding their time until another solid opportunity arose.
That opportunity came in the 63rd minute as Edwards hit two shots in the span of three seconds, one of which was saved by Suitch and the other went clanging off the post. This tenacious Ohio offense forced a penalty corner deep in the Kent zone. On the corner, Katelyn Shelley (Ephrata, Pa.) slid the ball to Ballard, who slammed it into the back of the net. 1-0 Ohio and the spirited Homecoming crowd went wild.
Kent State had designs of spoiling the celebration for the host `Cats, and they quickly answered three minutes later with a Rachel Miller tally off of a penalty corner.
"That's as good as you can hit a corner," said head coach Neil Macmillan. "That's why she's on the Australian 21-team. Beautiful goal."
It was now Ohio's turn to respond, and did they ever. Showing great resilience and fortitude, the `Cats patiently worked their way back up the field, eager to get one more chance. Seiders made a very solid save to begin their methodical progression up the pitch, and Edwards made sure that this game wasn't destined for overtime. Following a tremendous individual effort by Dull to keep possession in the offensive zone, Shelley picked up the ball and made a great pass to the waiting Edwards, who placed it just under the crossbar with a mere 76 seconds remaining.
"I thought our attack, which starts with us moving the ball up from the back, was really nice," said Macmillan. "We had some great patterns and moved the ball well. Resiliency...we showed that and came back to win the game." Ohio's next game is on Sunday at one pm when they play the Bears of Missouri State.
