The Ohio Northern University Women's Soccer team posted a dominating 3-0 victory over the visitors from Mount Union to open OAC play. Mount came into the match ranked #9 in the Great Lakes Region with a record of 6-2. ONU entered with a record of 5-0-3 and ranked #2 in the region as well as #19 nationally. One of the pregame highlights was the addition of an under 6 and under 7 girls soccer team, who escorted the ONU starters out on to the field for announcements. The group was very enthusiastic and really enjoyed the fun!
The first few minutes of the match was end to end, as both teams looked to get on the score sheet first. Substitute Sam Atkinson got her first goal of the season after an assist from Lindsay Gilchrist and Kristina Klusek. Gilchrist gathered the ball off a turnover in the defensive third. She found Klusek who turned and then played a precise pass to Atkinson who beat her defender and notched home her first goal of the season from about 18 yards out to the far side netting, beating the JCU keeper. ONU continued to pressure and gained several corners, which were almost converted into goals two and three. Persistence and patience paid off as Lauren Brown sent a corner kick into the area. Senior Co Captain Tara Tokar headed the ball down to an awaiting Freshman Alex Weirich, who gracefully placed her shot past the gk to make the score 2-0. ONU wasn't done as they got their third goal of the match on the first corner opportunity of the second half. Junior Co Captain Abbie Schauble drove a ball to the near post where Junior Sandy Plunkett got a touch before the JCU keeper, finalizing the scoring for ONU. The Polar Bears are now 6-0-3 and next take on a very tough Capital University team this Wednesday.
"This was a complete game for us", said ninth year head coach Mark Batman. "All the credit goes to the players. They were fantastic today. They faced some challenges earlier in the week, so it's great to see them respond like this against a very good team. The effort they gave really made the difference in the match. They fought for everything and then allowed their skill to take over and open the game up. The girls had some fantastic moments offensively, showing some great soccer and ideas, and they didn't allow Mount any easy chances. Anytime your goal keeper doesn't have to make a save, you are defending extremely well against good forwards. Mount is a great team, and will definitely cause OAC teams some fits in the next few weeks. They had some great players and I'm very proud of our girls for this result today. This is a great way for them to open conference play and they are excited for the next test."
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