Ohio vs. Buffalo PDF Box | Final Stats 

BUFFALO, N.Y. â€"On a single goal from freshman Stephanie Rowland, the Ohio women's soccer team began its 2015 Mid-American Conference schedule on Friday evening against Buffalo, shutting out the reigning conference tournament champions, 1-0.

The Bobcats (3-5-0) struck first, scoring in the 31^st minute when Rowland (Pewee Valley, Ky.) received a pass from redshirt junior Carly Manso (Vernon Hills, Ill.) and beat the Buffalo keeper to the low left corner of the goal, giving Ohio a 1-0 lead entering the half and marking Rowland’s third goal for the season.

“It was an even game,” head coach Aaron Rodgers said. “Obviously they are a very good team. They are a very good team with an All-American center back. She can’t stop us by herself. It comes down to who wants to put the hard work in more than the opposing team. This team is willing to commit to each other and fight.”

In the first half, the Bobcats registered six shots, with three of them on goal, while the Bulls (4-4-1) recorded seven shots, one of them on goal.

Ohio stayed strong defensively throughout the second half allowing Buffalo only five shots to add to their total of 12 for the game.

In goal for Ohio, freshman Taylor Smith (Uniontown, Ohio) stared her third-straight game for the Bobcats, recording four saves and allowing no goals in her 90 minutes of work.

Overall, Ohio registered nine shots, four of them on goal. Rowland led the way for the Bobcats recording three shots while sophomore Hannah Jaggers (Taylorsville, Ky.) added two and both junior Alexis Milesky (Plain City, Ohio) and Manso (Vernon Hills, Ill.) each added one to Ohio’s shot total.

“I want us to enjoy this win because they totally deserve it,” Rodgers said. “But, tomorrow we get back to work. We still have 10 more games to go. We have to continue to put the effort in. This has to be the base level of what we want to accomplish.”

The Bobcats continue MAC play on Sunday (Sept. 27) when they travel to Akron to take on the Zips at noon.

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