Oct. 24, 2009
Final Stats
ATHENS, Ohio - What a difference a few weeks can make. After suffering difficult early-season defeats to ranked opponents in games that were somewhat one-sided, the Ohio Bobcats came out and really gave a tremendous showing against the No. 13 Duke Blue Devils.
"I thought it was good proof that we're up at their level now," said head coach Neil Macmillan. "We had early season struggles against teams such as that, but now we're a different team."
The Bobcat defense, led by standouts Brittany Zorn (Millersville, Md.), Nina Bruno (Chevy Chase, Md.) and Jenna Green (Wescosville, Pa.) held the high-flying Duke offense to only 12 total shots, five of which were on goal. Courtney Seiders (Mt. Joy, Pa.) was equal to four of those shots, making some very good saves to keep the game within reach.
Patty Donahue (Powell, Oh.) and Brooke Edwards (Milford, Pa.) tested Samantha Nelson early on, but she was equal to their attempts on goal.
Duke applied some pressure in the middle of the first half, generating four penalty corners and four shots in the span of a few moments. Megan Deakins broke the tie in the 18th minute when her she skillfully tipped a pass from Lauren Miller just past Seiders.
Ohio came very close to equalizing in the 25th minute when Katherine Ballard (Charlottesville, Va.) hit a good shot on goal. Nelson made the save but Bruno found the rebound on her stick. She fired it immediately but Nelson somehow got there just in time and managed to preserve the Duke lead.
The Bobcats came out firing in the second half. Arguably the biggest play of the half was when Marcy Dull (Ephrata, Pa.) shot a rocket that beat Deakins but not the post. The ball clanged off the iron and the sound echoed around Pruitt Field.
The Blue Devils (9-7, 0-4 ACC) were able to hold off the feisty Bobcats for the remainder of the second half, escaping Athens with a 1-0 victory. Nelson made six saves on the day to preserve the shutout.
"It's hard to lose, it really is," said Macmillan. "However, when you play like that you've got to come away with a little excitement and confidence about doing a good job."
The Bobcats (7-8, 5-2 MAC) will next see action tomorrow when they host the Central Michigan Chippewas at Pruitt Field. Game time is set for one p.m.
