ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio University field hockey team (2-3, 1-0 MAC) opened the Mid-American Conference portion of its 2014 regular season schedule with a 1-0 shootout victory over league newcomer Longwood University (2-4, 0-2 MAC) on Sunday (Sept. 14) at Pruitt Field.

 

"We got better as time went on," said 10th-year head coach Neil Macmillan of Sunday's victory. "Our first half was a little shaky. The second half, we solidified things -- especially up front -- in terms of pressing the ball. Over time, we looked pretty good out there."

 

The Bobcats ran their winning streak to two in a row. After opening the season 0-3 and being outscored by a 14-3 margin in its first three matches, Ohio has posted back-to-back shutout victories -- including a 1-0 triumph over in-state rival Ohio State University on Friday (Sept. 12).

 

"The atmosphere has been great all season," said Macmillan of his squad's confidence. "It's certainly good now with a couple of wins under our belt. That's the confidence you need going into MAC play."

 

After 70 minutes of regulation and two 15-minute periods of overtime were not enough to produce a goal, the Bobcats and the Lancers headed to a best-of-five shootout.

 

Ohio senior Caelyn Hartley (Escondido, Calif.) opened the shootout by converting her attempt. After the ‘Cats and the Lancers traded misses, freshman forward Edel Nyland countered for Longwood with a successful attempt. Sophomore Kristen Buchanan (San Diego, Calif.) capitalized on her attempt to give Ohio a 2-1 edge in the shootout, but Longwood junior midfielder Meghan O'Connor brought things back to even. That set the stage for redshirt senior Lauryl Desch (Charlottesville, Va.) to cash in on Ohio's final shootout attempt. Senior goalkeeper Brittany Walker (Elizabethtown, Pa.) sealed the victory for the Bobcats by stopping Longwood freshman defender Lil-Sophie Achterwinter's last-ditch attempt.

 

"It's not as much pressure as you'd think, only because we have five girls that have amazing skills that are equally as talented as the next girl," said Desch of her match-winner in the shootout. "You could put any of the five of us out there, and we would have gotten the same results as we got today."

 

Walker and her defense once again stood tall, holding the opposition without a goal for a second-straight match. She made four saves in 100 minutes on Sunday and has not surrendered a score in Ohio's last 185 minutes of action. Walker has now tallied seven shutouts over her four-year career.

 

"If I could describe it in one word, it would be relentless," said Walker of her team's defensive effort. "They were super aggressive, really challenging. At practice, we've been working on making those clean tackles outside of the circle, not allowing any more corners. That's exactly what we did. We didn't give them a lot of chances."

 

Despite not finding the back of the cage in the first 100 minutes of action, the Bobcats controlled the attack for the majority of the match, outshooting the Lancers, 16-8, and winning the corner battle, 9-7. Desch and freshman Elena Curley (Louisville, Ky.) led the match with five shots apiece, with Curley tallying a match-high four shots on goal. Buchanan added three shots -- including two on goal. 

 

Nyland led Longwood with a team-high four shots while junior forward Jennifer Burris contributed a team-high two shots on goal.

 

Sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Bernard totaled eight saves in 100 minutes for the Lancers.

 

Ohio looks to continue its winning ways on Saturday (Sept. 20) as it closes a three-match homestand against Indiana University. The contest is slated to begin at 1 p.m. ET at Pruitt Field. 

 

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