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THE BASICS
Score: Ohio State 3, Ohio 2
Records: Ohio (3-4), Ohio State (5-2)
Location: Columbus, Ohio (Buckeye Varsity Field)
Short Story: Senior Clarissa Leickly (Gahanna, Ohio) and sophomore Maria Russell (Hudson, Ohio) each tallied first-half goals off of penalty corner opportunities, but the Ohio field hockey team (3-4) ultimately fell to in-state rival Ohio State (5-2), 3-2, on Sunday (Sept. 20) at Buckeye Varsity Field in Columbus. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Bobcats came out on the short end of the score despite winning the statistical battle in both shots (11-10) and penalty corners (6-4).
• Ohio struck first in the seventh minute when Leickly scored her third goal of the season on a penalty corner opportunity. Senior Adele Sammons (Upminster, England) and junior Kristen Buchanan (San Diego, Calif.) provided assists on the goal. The helper marked the team-leading fifth of the year for Sammons while Buchanan notched her third assist.
• The Buckeyes answered in the 23rd minute as senior forward Peanut Johnson dribbled into the circle and released an unassisted backhanded goal to even the score at one-all.
• Ohio State looked to take control of the match three minutes later when junior midfielder Paige Hamilton ripped a shot, but Ohio redshirt junior goalkeeper Lina Trucco (Lake Bluff, Ill.) made a nice diving save to keep the scored tied.
• The Bobcats once again cashed in on a penalty corner chance in the 29th minute. Sophomore Maria Russell (Hudson, Ohio) found the back of the cage for a team-leading fifth time this season when she tipped in a ball from freshman Kendall Ballard (Charlottesville, Va.), who recorded her first career assist.
• Leickly received a 10-minute yellow card penalty in the 38th minute, and Ohio State capitalized two minutes later on a penalty corner chance when senior back Emma Royce scored her third goal of the year. Johnson and sophomore forward Caroline Rath provided the assists -- their third and team-leading fourth helpers of the season, respectively.
• Trucco denied Hamilton of a goal again in the 47th minute when she made a nice sliding stop on another Ohio State penalty corner opportunity.
• Ohio was hit yellow cards again in both the 59th and 64th minutes, with sophomore Elena Curley (Louisville, Ky.) and freshman Emma Eggleston (Houston, Texas) being the recipients of the penalties. The Buckeyes took advantage of Ohio's short-handedness again in the 64th minute as Johnson scored her second of the match and sixth of the season to give Ohio State a 3-2 lead.
• The Bobcats had one more opportunity to send the match to overtime in the final minute of play. Ohio drew a penalty corner, but Ballard's attempt was stopped by Ohio State sophomore goalkeeper Liz Tamburro.
• Ohio played shorthanded for nearly the entire second half after controlling play in the first 35 minutes. The Bobcats were hit with three second-half yellow cards after a first half that saw them dominate in both shots (10-4) and penalty corners (5-2).
• Leickly led the match with three shots. Her season total now stands at a team-high 16 -- including a team-high 12 on goal.
• Trucco finished with four saves in 70 minutes of work. Her season total now stands at 34 stops.
• Johnson and Royce tied for the team lead with three shots apiece for Ohio State. Johnson has now posted 15 shots -- including 12 on goal -- in 2015 while Royce has tallied 21 shots, with nine coming on goal.
• Tamburro led the match with five saves in 70 minutes for the Buckeyes, upping her season total to 28.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Leickly's career goal total now stands at four. Her three goals in 2015 are a career high.
• Russell has now tallied seven career goals, with a career-high five coming in 2015.
• Sammons has posted a career-high five assists in 2015. Her career total is now up to 12.
• Buchanan's career assists total is now up to four, with a career-high three of them coming in 2015.
• Trucco's career saves total is now up to 43.

QUOTABLE
"They put us under a lot of pressure. They changed their system of how they were pressing. We were also down a player, I would say, pretty much the whole half because of cards. Unfortunately, when you're in that situation, it's pretty hard to work the ball out having numbers above the ball. We had the numbers back, but we couldn't generate midfield play. " - 11th-year head coachNeil Macmillan on the second half

"They played well. We had to play different people at different positions as well. When you lose a player, you've got to reorganize a little bit. We did a good job with that. I'm pretty happy with how we set ourselves up. In the end, it was just not enough." - Macmillan on team's defensive play

UP NEXT
Ohio visits Mid-American Conference foe Ball State in a non-conference matchup next Saturday (Sept. 26) in Muncie, Ind. The contest is slated to get underway at noon ET.

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