Oct. 2, 2011
Final Stats
DEKALB, Ill. - Ohio Soccer picked up its second consecutive Mid-American Conference win on Sunday, earning a 2-1 victory at Northern Illinois. With the win, the Bobcats 6-6 (3-1 MAC) currently sit atop the MAC East standings. The Bobcats have been on fire of late, winning four of their last five matches.
Ohio did a good job dealing with some early pressure from Northern Illinois (1-9-2, 0-4 MAC), as goalkeeper Mattie Liston (Lakewood, Ohio) made two saves within the first ten minutes of the match. The Bobcats were then able to apply some pressure of their own, forcing NIU's defense into some difficult situations. Toye Famodu was able to break the deadlock in the 25th minute, scoring her third goal of the season after receiving a nice pass from teammate Paige Howard (Mentor, Ohio). Famodu has been a very important piece of the Bobcats' MAC success so far this season, as she's scored goals in back-to-back matches, both of which have been victories.
"She is, without question, our most consistent forward," said head coach Stacy Strauss. "She's the total package the way she is playing right now. She has a very good work rate, speed, technical ability, and add to that, finishing."
The Huskies were able to equalize 15 minutes into the second half when Samantha Hill found the back of the net in the 60th minute.
Despite this second-half goal by Northern Illinois, Ohio was not to be denied the victory on Sunday. The Bobcats answered back immediately and emphatically, scoring the go-ahead goal in the very next minute. Erin Schwenke (Solon, Ohio) received a pass from Cathryn Rogers before beating Amy Carr to score her first goal of the season, one which put the Green and White in the lead for good.
The Bobcats wrap up their four-game conference road trip next weekend with stops in Toledo (Oct. 7) and Ball State (Oct. 9).
"We're in a good place right now," Strauss said. "We also recognize that every single game is a battle and we're going into a huge weekend with Toledo and Ball State on the road. We're going to need to play even a little bit better this coming weekend than we did this past weekend."
Goals:
Ohio - Toye Famodu 3 (Paige Howard 1) 25'
NIU - Samantha Hill 1 (Ashley Neubeck 1, Kayra Thompson 1) 60'
Ohio - Erin Schwenke 1 (Cathryn Rogers 1) 61'
Bookings:
NIU - Shelbi Johnson 43'
NIU - Allie McBride 74'
Ohio starting XI (numerically): Mattie Liston (GK), Laura Dieter, Kelsey Pichel, Cathryn Rogers, Paige Howard, Lauren Burke, Kim Nordtveit, Erin Schwenke, Katie Kemen, Remi Famodu, Toye Famodu
