Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Ohio
Soccer Drops 1-0 Decision At Ohio
October 16, 2009 | Soccer
ATHENS, Ohio - The Ball State soccer team suffered a hard fought 1-0 loss to Mid-American Conference foe Ohio Friday afternoon at Chessa Field. The loss drops the Cardinals to 4-10-0 overall on the year and 2-5-0 in league action while the Bobcats improve to 7-5-2 overall and 4-1-2 in MAC play.
"We played a lot better today, especially in the second half," head coach Michael Lovett said. "In the first half, we were non-existent in the offensive end but Nicole (Wood) kept us in the game with some phenomenal saves, including a few one-on-one breakaway saves. We were much better in the second half as we were aggressive, winning balls and had a dangerous attack. We just could not get anything on target to test the goalkeeper today."
The Cardinals battled the Bobcats toe-to-toe in the tightly contested affair. Ball State had an early chance on goal in the 25th minute as junior forward Missy Gordon (Carmel, Ind./Marshall Univ.) ripped a shot from 10 yards out that Ohio goalkeeper Jess Maclean was able to stop.
Ohio turned the pressure up on the Cardinals in the ensuing minutes as the Bobcats recorded four shots and three corner kicks in the final 20 minutes of the first half. Freshman goalkeeper Nicole Wood (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville) came up big during the span as she tallied four saves, including stopping Ohio defender Remi Famodu on a header from close range and a stop of Laura Dieter on a breakaway.
Ball State regrouped at halftime and put early pressure on the Bobcats to open the half. Ohio weathered the quick start and finally found a way to beat Wood in the 71st minute of action. Dieter was in the right place at the right time after Wood made the initial save on Jackie Hanson's shot but the rebound deflected off of the cross bar and back into play where Dieter was able to poke it into the back of the net.
The Cardinals had a couple of chances late as junior forward Jacki Eft (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) sent a shot high in the 73rd minute and Gordon sailed a shot just over the cross bar in the 88th minute of play.
Wood finished the game with four saves in the loss for the Cardinals who were out-shot by a 15-5 margin. With the loss, Ball State trails the all-time series against Ohio 4-8-1 and had a four game unbeaten streak against the Bobcats snapped.
The Cardinals will conclude their four-game road swing Sunday afternoon as they travel to Akron to face the Zips at 1 p.m.
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