The Ohio soccer team held its ground in the Mid-American Conference standings this weekend, sweeping its matches with a 3-2 victory against Kent State on Friday and a 3-1 win over Buffalo yesterday.
The two wins marked the season’s second weekend sweep for the ’Cats (8-8-1, 6-3-1 MAC) and helped in their fight for a home game in the first round of the MAC tournament. Ohio coach Stacy Strauss said being able to string together two strong outings was a hurdle the team has been trying to jump.
“It’s really important,” she said. “We couldn’t quite put our finger on why we hadn’t been consistent but this weekend we did play consistently well.”
The Bobcats got right to work against Buffalo (8-9, 4-5 MAC) when forward Amy Lower beat her defender and laced the ball into the left corner of the net at the 22:53 mark. Lower was able to strike again just minutes later when forward Lindsey Price fed her the ball and she put it in the back of the net. Lower, who currently leads the team in goals scored, said that her success is a product of what the opponent gives her.
“It feels good but I just come out and play,” she said. “If it happens, it happens. They just made errors on defense, and it’s good to capitalize on those.”
After Buffalo forward Heidi Griffiths was able to beat Ohio keeper Dominique Wright with a header to cut the lead to one, Price put the game away for the ’Cats with a blast from inside the box at the 87:03 mark.
In Friday’s action against Kent State (8-8-1, 5-4 MAC) Ohio jumped all over the Golden Flashes when Price led forward Halle Plagens with a ball that the freshman sent past Kent State’s diving goalkeeper Alicia Fernandez at the 1:14 mark.
Lower then got her official start to the weekend when she headed in another assist from Price at the 19:33 mark. Kent State got on the board when a free kick from about 40 yards slipped past Wright at 32:36.
The ’Cats struck again just two minutes later when Lower found the strings to put Ohio up 3-1. Kent State was able to stay in the game, feeding a loose ball past Wright at the 84:32 mark, but the Bobcats were able to hold on for the win.
Price, who assisted the first two goals, said her teammates were making themselves easy to find.
“The forwards are making really good runs up top,” she said. “It’s really easy to distribute to them. They’re really helping.”
Despite the bevy of scoring, Strauss was quick to point out Wright’s eleven saves as a key to victory.
“The goal was a rare mistake on her (Wright’s) part but other than that she kept us in it in the second half,” she said. “I feel lucky that we have her.”
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