ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio soccer team (11-4-3, 7-1-3) played Kent State (11-4-3, 7-1-3) to a scoreless draw in double overtime Thursday afternoon (Oct. 28) at Chessa Field. As a result, the Bobcats finished the regular season tied for second place with Kent State in the MAC Conference and will go into the MAC Tournament as the number two seed after winning the tiebreaker over the Golden Flashes.
"Kent State is obviously a really good team and credit to them for that finish and the season that they have had as well," noted head coach
Aaron Rodgers.
It was a battle of defense from the opening kickoff. Kent State tested the Bobcats defense early in the first half that led to a corner kick 14 seconds into the match, en route to 10 corner kicks in the first half. The Bobcats returned the favor less than a minute later with a shot from
Haley Miller that sailed wide left. From there, it was an exchange of attacks with Ohio outshooting Kent State nine to six in the first half. Ohio's backline held strong turning away multiple goal scoring chances as goalkeeper
Sam Wexell added three saves to the stat sheet.
"I thought we created a lot of chances that allowed us to impose our style," noted Rodgers. "Overall, we out shot them and had more shots on goal, sol I think we created some really good chances."
The offensive action ramped up in the second half as Ohio pushed to find the back of the net. The Bobcats took 13 shots after intermission compared to just four for the Golden Flashes. Kent State's defense held strong however, ensuring the match would go into overtime as a 0-0 tie.
With the game tied at zero after 90 minutes, the two teams moved to a golden-goal overtime, consisting of two ten-minute periods. The Bobcats continued their offensive attack with a shot by Miller in the 95
th minute and a shot by
Madison Clayton in the 104
th minute. Ultimately, both teams were unable to find the back of the net, leading to the draw.
Statistically, the Bobcats were led on offense by
Abby Townsend, who recorded a team high in shots (7) and shots on goal (4). Ohio saw seven players play all 110 minutes of the match – Wexell,
Morgan Collica,
Carsyn Prigge,
Ella Bianco,
Isabella Ginocchi,
Olivia Sensky, and
Paige Knorr.
With the regular season completed, the Bobcats have matched their highest win total in conference (7) for the first time since 2006. It's also Ohio's best overall win percentage (.694) since their 2002 season.
"I'm so proud of this team," noted Rodgers. "I'm proud of their effort, proud of the body of work that they put together this conference season. It's been such a gritty road, so we will take some time to recover over the next couple days, and then we're going to be ramping up preparing for the conference tournament on Thursday."
Up Next:
The results of the final matchday of the regular season saw Bowling Green clinch the regular season title with Ohio finishing tied for second place with Kent State. Due to Ohio holding the tiebreaker of conference goal differential over the Golden Flashes, the Bobcats will be the 2nd seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament. With the 2nd seed, Ohio is given a bye to the semifinals of the tournament, to be held next Thursday, Nov. 4 and hosted by Bowling Green. The Bobcats will find out their opponent after the quarterfinals, being played on Sunday, Oct. 31. Kickoff times for the semifinal round will be announced at a later date.
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