Aug. 29, 2014

DAYTON, Ohio - An early goal by sophomore Alexis Milesky helped the Ohio women's soccer team pick up its first victory of the season by defeating Wright State, 1-0, Friday evening at Alumni Field.

The victory marked the first time that the Bobcats have defeated Wright State since Aug. 26, 2005.

The Bobcats (1-2-0) wasted little time getting on the board. In the second minute, while falling to the ground, Milesky fired the ball with her left foot into the upper left corner of the goal, giving Ohio the early 1-0 lead.

“One of the biggest things that we’ve been stressing to the girls is that we want to be the aggressor in the games and that we want to be first team to score,” second-year head coach Aaron Rodgers said. “I could tell that the girls were prepared to play. They came out very motivated and Lexie [Milesky] scored a phenomenal goal. She shot 20 yard out into the top corner and there was no chance for the goalkeeper to get it. She got it and smashed it into the corner. Just a phenomenal goal.”

That was all the offense the Bobcats would need. Senior starting goalie Nicole Amari held the Raiders (0-3-0) scoreless, registering six saves, three in each half. However, Amari’s defense was put to the test, when in the final 10 minutes of the second half she was forced to make a save on a breakaway, preserving the Bobcats victory.

“Amari had an amazing game,” Rodgers said “She made a game saving save with about 10 minutes left. In the last quarter of the game she made some big saves and preserved the win for us.”

The Bobcats had eight shots on the night. Senior Annie Beard had two, with six others all registering one shot apiece.

“We had a tough two games on the road last weekend,” Rodgers said. “We had two tough losses on Friday and Sunday and to come back on the road against a team that Ohio has not beaten since 2005, the girls showed a lot of resilience. It’s hard to win games in college soccer. I give credit to Wright State for really putting us under a lot of pressure in the second half. As I’ve always said, our standards are high and we’re not going to stop. I think we have a lot of room to grow still, but at the end of the day we won the game and that’s the most important thing.”

The Bobcats return to action Sunday, Aug. 31 when they travel to Lexington, Ky. to take on the University of Kentucky at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. and the game can be seen on the SEC Network Plus.

#BobcatNation