Sara C. Tobias / Chief Photographer / st939605@ohiou.edu

Ohio defender Rachael Philpot battles for the ball against Bowling Green forward Corbie Yee during the game at Chessa Field Friday. The Bobcats tied the game after double overtime.

Jess MacLean didn’t let getting benched affect her against Bowling Green Friday.

The Ohio goaltender stopped all eight Falcon shots en route to the first shutout for the Bobcats in a 0-0 tie.

“(The shutout) was good for overall team confidence,” MacLean said.

Entering the game, Bowling Green was averaging 2.18 goals a game to lead the Mid-American Conference in scoring, while Ohio was ninth (1.82) in goals against average.

“(The shutout) was huge for our confidence,” coach Stacy Strauss said.  “I told the team afterwards that I was very, very proud of the shutout, and I thought we made a lot of improvements in defending.”

The first half has been a problem all year for the Bobcats, allowing 10 first-half goals.  Bowling Green hit the post with a shot just 10 minutes into the game.

“When things like that happen, you have to refocus, regroup, get organized and say, ‘It’s okay, it didn’t go in,’” MacLean said.

Ohio withstood the early pressure, then turned around to create some scoring chances of its own.

The Bobcats had 10 shots (two on goal) and seven corner kicks, well over their season average of 2.22 corners a game.  Despite the chances, Ohio couldn’t score.

“We’ve got to anticipate the serve coming in,” Strauss said. “We’ve got to make sure we’ve got numbers crashing the box.”

Yesterday, MAC favorite Toledo came to Chessa Field.

The Rockets controlled the tempo of play for most of the game with 10 shots on goal in their 2-0 win.

“We were under a lot of pressure during the game,” sweeper Elyse Merchant said.  “I think as a group, we all agree that we need to defend as a team and attack as a team.”

The Bobcats’ inability to control the ball helped Toledo.

“I was disappointed with our inability to respond to (the pressure),” Strauss said.  “I thought we played frantically and gave the ball away and really gave them a lot of the opportunities that they had.”

Ohio’s offense was almost nonexistent, generating just five shots.

“It’s tough to get in behind (the defense) and create chances when you can’t keep the ball,” Strauss said.