Oct. 28, 2010
Final Stats
ATHENS, Ohio- An early Akron goal bit Ohio soccer as the 'Cats fell 1-0 to Akron to wrap up the regular season Thursday at Chessa Field. With Miami beating Bowling Green, Ohio will draw the eighth seed and travel to Toledo to face the top-seeded Rockets in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament Sunday at 1 p.m.
Ohio (6-8-4, 3-5-3 MAC) controlled much of the possession on the day and outshot the Zips (7-10-1, 5-5-1 MAC) 15-4 overall, with seven shots coming on goal. The Green and White also had an 8-0 advantage on corner kicks. Rachael Philpot (Cincinnati, Ohio) paced the `Cats with five shots on the game, including three on goal. Cathryn Rogers (Toronto, Ontario) added four shots, with two landing on goal. Mattie Liston (Lakewood, Ohio) collected two saves.
"We didn't come out with enough urgency," Ohio coach Stacy Strauss said. "Clearly we dominated the stats, but that wasn't good enough to earn the win. That's the funny thing about this game. You can do everything right, and sometimes it's just a game of inches."
Ohio controlled play early on, picking up a corner kick and a couple shots just a couple minutes in. Akron managed to turn them away, however. The Zips caught an early break in the sixth minute and capitalized with the deciding tally on a slashing shot from Ashley Hughes that slipped just out of reach of the keeper and into the right corner of the net.
Despite the Akron score, Ohio continued to keep control of the action. Kelsey Pichel (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Philpot had opportunities a couple minutes later, but the Zip keeper was able to make two key saves. The Zips nearly got on the board again in the 28th minute as they picked up an advantage. Liston made a diving play on a line drive shot to knock it away. The rebound attempt looked threatening, but a sliding deflection from Sarah Brown (North Royalton, Ohio) at the goal line kept the score intact.
The Green and White picked up its share of corner kicks in the first half as well, but Akron's defense kept the `Cats out of the net. Ohio outshot the Zips 6-3 in the opening half and had a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks.
Play went back and forth through the first few minutes of the second half. The `Cats came back after that with their share of possessions, but Akron's defense still would not budge. With just under 13 minutes left, Ohio looked poised to even the score with a promising shot from Philpot. The Zips' keeper was able to make the save, however, to keep the score at 1-0.
Ohio had a couple other chances late in the half, but clutch saves from Akron thwarted the `Cats' hopes and gave the Zips the victory.
For a complete breakdown of the MAC Tournament seedings, check out mac-sports.com.
