Hard Fought Game On Senior Day

The #25 nationally ranked Polar Bears lost a hard fought match to the #8 ranked Cardinals from Otterbein College Saturday afternoon on senior day. Both teams entered the match as two of the best teams in the Great Lakes Region (Otterbein at #1, ONU at #3 in the latest NCAA rankings poll). The match got started with ONU dominating most of the play in the first half, creating a few great scoring chances. ONU's best scoring chance came when Junior Natalie White found herself alone in the Otterbein box, but just couldn't convert the scoring opportunity after several attempts. ONU had another great scoring chance off their only corner of the match as Junior Chelsea Albert rose above everyone else, but her header just sailed past the far post. Otterbein's lone goal came in the 2nd half off a defensive breakdown, which found an Otterbein forward on a breakaway for the game winner.
"It was a tough game for the girls", said Head Coach Mark Batman. "Otterbein is a great team and it was a great match. Both teams had great chances to score and it came down to them converting their best chance. We will learn from this game and get better for next week as we have two of the most important games of our season ahead of us. I'm proud that the players realize they can play with the best teams in the country, it just wasn't our day."
For anyone in attendance, they got to witness two great soccer teams play a fantastic 90 minutes. Both teams have a very good chance of getting far into post season play in the NCAA National Tournament. A special thanks to our seniors who played with so much emotion yesterday and for everything you have given to our program in the previous seasons. We are so blessed to have you in our program.
ONU next travels to Wilmington College on Tuesday night for a 7p kickoff. Wilmington sits in 3rd place just behind the Polar Bears, who are now 12-3-2 overall and 6-1 in the OAC. The Quakers are coming off a loss to John Carroll on Saturday night; a team that ONU beat 1-0 earlier in the season. It looks to be a very exciting match on Tuesday for both teams. Thank you to all who showed your support for our program on Saturday. We hope you will make the trip on Tuesday to Wilmington to cheer on your Polar Bears!