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ATHENS, Ohio – I's officially fall in Athens and it's Homecoming Week! Check out everything that's ahead for Ohio Athletics in this week's Paw Prints. 

FOOTBALL
Sept. 28 / vs Akron / Athens, Ohio / Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium / 3:30 p.m. ET  / ESPN+ / Watch / Listen / Live Stats / Digital Guide / Tickets 

The Ohio football team (2-2, 0-0 MAC) opens Mid-American Conference on Saturday, Sept. 28 when they host Akron (1-3, 0-0 MAC) for Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on Frank Solich Field at Peden Stadium and can be seen on ESPN+. 

Ohio is coming off a loss at Kentucky this past Saturday. Redshirt junior Nick Poulos (Granite Bay, Calif.) made his first start as a Bobcat, going 8-for-19 with 110 yards through the air. On the ground, Poulos finished the game with five carries on 25 yards. Redshirt freshman running back Rickey Hunt Jr. (Oklahoma City, Okla.) scored Ohio's only touchdown of the day, finishing with 22 carries on 21 rushing yards. Freshman running back Duncan Brune (Cologne, Germany) and graduate student running back Anthony Tyus III (Portage, Mich.) recorded six and eight carries, respectively. Defensively, graduate student safety Dustin Johnson (Denver, Colo.) led the Bobcats with 11 total tackles — including seven solo stops. Redshirt junior linebacker Shay Taylor (Mount Perry, Ohio) was just behind Johnson with nine tackles on the day and a quarterback hurry. 

Akron enters the matchup with a 1-3 record and is coming off a 50-7 loss at South Carolina last Saturday. Redshirt junior Ben Finley led the offense with 110 passing yards (14-27-1) with a 42-yard touchdown to sophomore Adrian Norton. Norton led the receiving corps with four catches and 56 yards. Senior Antavious Fish and junior Bryan McCoy led the defense with 16 combined tackles with eight each.

SOCCER
Sept. 26 / at Bowling Green / Bowling Green, Ohio / Cochrane Stadium / 7 p.m. ET /  ESPN+ / Watch / Live Stats 
Sept. 29 / vs Kent State / Athens, Ohio / Chessa Field / 1 p.m. ET / ESPN+ / Watch / Live Stats / Digital Guide 

The Ohio soccer team (5-1-3, 0-0-3 MAC) is back in action for two more MAC matches this week starting on Thursday, Sept. 26 when Ohio heads to Bowling Green, Ohio to take on the Falcons (5-2-1, 2-0-0 MAC). First touch is set for 7 p.m. at Cochrane Stadium and can be seen on ESPN+. Ohio then returns to Athens on Sunday, Sept. 29 to host rival Kent State (5-2-1, 2-0-0 MAC) in a MAC Championship rematch. First touch is set for 1 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN +. 

Ohio is coming off a week that saw the Bobcats open MAC play with back-to-back ties. Ohio and Western Michigan opened MAC play on Thursday with a 1-1 draw in Athens. Ohio then returned to action on Sunday at Northern Illinois, finishing that match in a 0-0 draw. 

BGSU enters the matchup with the Bobcats with a 5-2-1 mark over all and a 2-0-0 mark in MAC play. The Falcons opened MAC play last week with a win over Ball State, before defeating Toledo, 2-1, on Sunday in Bowling Green. Kent State is also 2-0 in MAC play and are coming off back-to-back 1-0 shutouts against Toledo and Ball State. The Flashes will take on Miami on Thursday before headed to Athens on Sunday. 

VOLLEYBALL
Sept. 27 / at Akron / Akron, Ohio / James A. Rhodes Arena / 6 p.m. ET / ESPN+ / Watch / Live Stats 
Sept. 28 / at Akron / Akron, Ohio / James A. Rhodes Arena / 4 p.m. ET / ESPN+ / Watch / Live Stats 

The Ohio volleyball team (4-7, 0-0 MAC) opens MAC play this week as well as they hit to road for two matches with Akron (4-8, 0-0 MAC), The weekend begins on Friday, Sept. 27 when the Bobcats and Zips battle it out at 7 p.m. inside James A. Rhodes Arena. The two teams are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. in the JAR. Both matches can be seen on ESPN+. 

Ohio is coming off a 1-2 weekend at the Green and White Invitational hosted by the Bobcats in Athens. Ohio defeated Liberty, before falling to Oakland and Eastern Kentucky, Against Liberty, The Bobcats were led by sophomore Kam Hunt (Sylvania, Ohio) who tallied a game-high 14 kills, with seven kills coming in set one alone. Junior Anna Kharchynska (Kyiv, Ukraine) contributed with 11 kills, a game-high .579 hit percentage, four digs, and three blocks. Sophomore Olivia Gardner (Macomb, Mich.) led the game with a career-high six blocks and totaled six kills. Sophomore Kendall Hickey (Fishers, Ind) led the game in digs with 10, followed by freshman Darbi Ricketts (Cincinnati, Ohio) with eight. 

Akron enters the matches with a 4-8 overall record and are coming off 1-2 week where they fell to Cincinnati and Cleveland State on the road, before defeating Youngstown State in Akron.  

FIELD HOCKEY
Sept. 29 / at Longwood / Farmville, Va. / Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field / 1 p.m. ET / ESPN+ / Watch / Live Stats 

The Ohio field hockey team  (3-5, 0-1 MAC) continues MAC play when they head to Farmville, Va. to take on Longwood (3-2, 1-0 MAC). First touch is set for 1 p.m. at Elizabeth Burger Jackson Field and can be seen on ESPN+. 

The Bobcats are coming off an 0-1 week where they dropped a hard fought battle to App State in the MAC opener Friday afternoon, before falling to Brown on Saturday afternoon in Athens. 

Longwood is coming off a 2-1 overtime victory over Central Michigan on Friday in their MAC opener. 

MEN'S GOLF
Sept. 28-29 / at Virtues Intercollegiate / Nashport, Ohio / Virtues Golf Club / All Day  / Live Results 

The Ohio men's golf team is back in action this weekend when they head to Nashport, Ohio for the 2024 Virtues Intercollegiate Sept. 28-29. The two-day event is hosted by Bowling Green at the Virtues Golf Club. 

Competing at this year's event is Belmont, Dayton, Youngstown State, Kent State, Michigan, Marshall, Longwood, Miami, St. Bonaventure, Robert Morris, Wright State, James Madison, EMU, BGSU, Butler and Notre Dame. 

The Bobcats are coming off back-to-back tournaments two weeks ago where they placed fifth at the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational, before turning around and competing at the Golden Grizzlies Intercollegiate five days later. 

SOFTBALL
Sept. 29 / at Dayton / Dayton, Ohio / UD Softball Stadium / 1 p.m. ET & 3 p.m. ET

The Ohio softball team is back in action for their second weekend of fall ball this week when they head to Dayton, Ohio on Sunday, Sept 29. The Bobcats and the Flyers are set to battle it out in a doubleheader set to begin at 1 p.m. at the UD Softball Stadium. 

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