OSU Opens Big Ten Season with Win Over Northwestern – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
The Ohio State women’s soccer team (3-4, 1-0) claimed victory in their 2002 Big Ten opener as they topped Northwestern (2-4-1, 0-2) 2-1 in Evanston, Ill. Sunday afternoon. With the victory, Ohio State has now won three of their last four matches and has also captured wins in each of their last four conference road contests dating back to the end of the 2001 season.
For the second consecutive match the young forward combination of sophomore Lisa Grubb (Portage, Mich.) and freshman Colleen Hoban (Strongsville, Ohio) opened the scoring as they connected for the game’s first goal in the 20th minute. Hoban lead Grubb into a breakaway situation deep into the Northwestern zone where Grubb evaded a challenge by Wildcat keeper Susie McCreery to net her fourth goal of the season. The assist is Hoban’s third of the season.
“Both Colleen a Lisa are starting to get a better feel for each other,” OSU head coach Lori Walker said. “Colleen’s ability to control the ball has meshed quite well with Lisa’s determination and skill on the offensive end.”
The Buckeyes would strike again in the second half on a Kiley Enmark (Sterling Heights, Mich.) goal in the 50th minute of the match. Enmark, a senior forward, received a spectacular assist from senior defender Jen Miller (Centerville, Ohio), as Miller sent a pass from nearly 40 yards out across the Northwestern net to Enmark who one-timed her shot past McCreery from 25 yards out. The score is Enmark’s first of the season, while Miller notches her second assist of 2002.
“Jen Miller had a great performance today,” Walker stated. “She rose to the occasion both offensively and defensively and made a great play assisting on what turned out to be today’s game winning goal.”
Also contributing on the offensive end was senior forward Lindsay Eckles, who registered three shots during the match. With her initial shot of the first period, the Hilliard, Ohio native set a new all-time mark at Ohio State for career shots. Eckles entered the match tied with former Buckeye great Lisa Sutmiller with 204 career strikes and has now staked claim to the top spot with a career ledger of 207.
The lone Wildcat goal occurred at the 52:34 mark of the match when NU forward Aileen Guiney fed a pass to fellow forward Kristen Pearce who looped a shot over the head of OSU senior goal keeper Jen Heaney (Cincinnati, Ohio).
Ohio State returns home to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium this Friday as they play host to the Purdue Boilermakers at 5 p.m.
