OSU Claims 1-0 Win Versus Pittsburgh in Ohio State Tourney – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 15, 2002
Box Score
Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio State University women’s soccer team (2-4, 0-0) concluded the 2002 Ohio State Tournament with a shutout victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers (3-3, 0-0) 1-0 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Ohio State once again out shot its opponent for the third consecutive game as the Buckeyes doubled-up Pittsburgh’s output by a 22-11 margin. However, OSU could muster just one goal in a tightly contested match.
Buckeye senior defender Shelley Besson, listed as a forward on the preseason roster, came up with two game-saving plays in 57th minute as OSU clung to a 1-0 advantage. Besson swatted away consecutive shots on goal by Pittsburgh forwards Cara Senger and Liz Potts near the left post in what turned out to be the Panthers’ best offensive threat of the day.
OSU head coach Lori Walker reacted to Besson’s crucial plays.
“Those are the things you hope happen for your defense,” Walker stated. “I’m very happy for Shelley to do her job as well as she did. I’m pleased to see her make those two back saves and be in the right spot in order to make our goal smaller. She is a very unselfish player and will do what it takes to help the team. She is doing a very nice job for us this season.”
OSU sophomore forward Lisa Grubb tallied the game-winning goal in the 25th minute of the match as she received a pass through the middle from freshman forward Colleen Hoban and snuck the ball past Pittsburgh goaltender Jamie Pelusi. Grubb eluded Pelusi’s attempt to challenge her shot and slipped the scoring strike into the net from just outside of the six-yard box. Ohio State would again invade the Pittsburgh zone near the end of the first half as senior forward Lindsay Eckles and freshman forward Nicole Braman combined to fire three shots at the Panther net in the matter of 10 seconds, but Pittsburgh’s defense held true as OSU took the 1-0 advantage into intermission.
Head Coach Lori Walker shook up the starting line up a bit on Sunday as she started six sophomores and three freshman among the starting 11.
“I guess I’m going to grow some gray hairs throughout the rest the season, but it is good for our future,” Walker said. “They combine very well together but they still need to work on their finishing and need to start taking some more shots.”
Buckeye senior goaltender Jen Heaney returned to action after missing the past two games, due to injury, to record her first win of the 2002 season, while fellow senior forward Eckles led the Buckeye attack with 5 shots.
Ohio State will next travel to Evanston, Illinois for their Big Ten opener against Northwestern on Sunday at 1 p.m. (EDT).
In the opening match of the day, Missouri topped Bowling Green by a 1-0 count. Tiger forward Missy Peabody recorded her third goal of the season just 1:35 seconds into the match as Missouri held BGSU scoreless for their fourth victory of the young season. Missouri Forwards Amber Swinehart and Adriene Davis assisted on the goal.
Game Notes: The BGSU-Missouri game was delayed for one hour due to lightning and was played with a running clock. The Pittsburgh-Ohio State contest was pushed back by 30 minutes as well.
Ohio State moves to 2-0 versus Big East teams in 2002 with the victory over Pittsburgh. The Buckeyes recorded their first win of the season last Sunday versus Georgetown, 5-1.
