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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio field hockey team (3-4, 0-1 MAC) opened Mid-American Conference play on Friday afternoon (Sept. 20), falling to Appalachian State (4-3, 1-0 MAC), 2-0 at Pruitt Field.
Overall, App State outshot the Bobcats, 20-8, with 12 shots on goal compared to the Bobcats' four, while both teams recorded five penalty corners.
Individually, junior
Anouk Plaehn (Hanover, Germany) had three shots with one on goal, while graduate student
Meela Kopp (Louisville, Ky.) added two attempts with one on goal. Sophomore
Natalie LaFleur (Fredericksburg, Va.) added two shots with one on net, while sophomore
Mary Huffman (Ypsilanti, Mich.) had one attempt on goal.
In net, graduate student
Macy Lotze (Louisville, Ky.) held her ground, playing all 60 minutes, allowing two goals, while making 10 saves, including saving a penalty stroke.
Appalachian State opened the match with the offensive pressure and ultimately struck first with a goal in the opening quarter, taking a 1-0 lead in the 12
th minutes. As the game progressed, Ohio fought hard to respond. The Bobcats earned several penalty corners but were unable to convert, with shots by Kopp that were saved, sending the game into the half with Ohio trailing, 1-0.
At the half, App State outshot Ohio, 8-6, while each team had three penalty corners.
In the third quarter, the Mountaineers extended their lead to 2-0 with a goal off a penalty corner. Despite trailing, Ohio's defense held firm against multiple attempts by App State, maintaining its resilience under pressure.
"I think the team was a little more stressed than usual," head coach
Ali Johnstone said. "We've been playing really hard, but our mindset was a bit different today because there's more pressure on the MAC games, and I think we got really nervous."
In the final quarter, Lotze continued to shine, saving a critical penalty stroke that kept the Bobcats in the game. Ohio pushed to avoid a shutout in the last few minutes, but ultimately could not find the back of the net, falling 2-0.
The Bobcats will look to quickly regroup as they prepare for their next match on Saturday (Sept. 21), when they stay at home to take on Brown. First touch is set for 1 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+.
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