Sept. 18, 2015
Final Stats
Ohio vs. Xavier Box Score
CINCINNATI, Ohio - On goals from Holly Harris and Stephanie Rowland, the Ohio women's soccer team wrapped up its 2015 nonconference schedule on Friday evening, defeating Xavier, 2-1. The Bobcat victory was the first against the Musketeers since Sept. 5, 1999.
The Bobcats (2-5-0) struck first, scoring in the 32nd minute when Harris (Batavia, Ohio) took the ball in front of the net and put it past the right side of the Xavier keeper, giving Ohio a 1-0 lead entering the half.
"It's great for the team and the players who have been working really hard," head coach Aaron Rodgers said. "They knew where our focus needed to be. We needed to improve out mental toughness and strengthen our grit and grind because that's what conference is going to be like. This game really prepared us for our conference schedule. Any win is a great win and we're happy to have it."
In the first half, the Bobcats registered six shots, with three of them on goal, while the Musketeers (5-3-0) recorded seven shots, none of them on goal.
Ohio kept the pressure coming, scoring the go-ahead goal in the 58th minute when Rowland (Pewee Valley, Ky.) played the ball to the right of the box and fired it over the keeper's head, giving the Bobcats a 2-0 lead.
Xavier came within a goal late in the game when Kenadie Carlson scored from six yards out in the 80th minute, to make the score 2-1.
However, Ohio was able to keep attacking and would come away with the 2-1 victory.
Overall, Ohio registered 12 shots, six of them on goal. Hannah Jaggers (Taylorsville, Ky.) led the way with five shots. Alexis Milesky (Plain City, Ohio) registered two shots, one on goal and Rowland registered two shots, two of them on goal. Celeste Fushimi-Karns (Dublin, Ohio), Megan Niebuhr (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Harris all registered one shot.
Taylor Smith started her second-straight game in goal for the Bobcats, allowing one goal on 16 shots and registering six saves.
"We've been working on having more pride and discipline than the other teams," Rodgers said. "I know we're talented and we can score goals. We spend a lot of time on attacking and defending and it was more of a mindset for us. It was more of a mind set for us. Coming out scoring the first goal and obviously scoring the second. Credit to Xavier, they have a very good team and are having a fantastic year and are going to do well in their conference. They presented a very tough challenge for us and I knew we had the ability to score goals and that we needed to score goals to win the game."
The Bobcats open up Mid-American Conference play next weekend when they travel to Buffalo on Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. Ohio will then head to Akron to take on the Zips at noon on Sunday, Sept. 27.
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