Oct. 20, 2013
Columbus, Ohio
Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Ohio State 6 (9-4-3, 3-3-2 Big Ten); Northwestern 1 (3-11-2, 1-7-0 Big Ten)
Attendance: 957
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s soccer team exploded for six goals in a 6-1 Senior Day win Sunday over Northwestern Sunday afternoon at Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 9-4-3 overall, 3-3-2 in the Big Ten, while Northwestern falls to 3-11-2, 1-7-0 in conference play.
“Our young players have a lot of respect for these seniors,” Ohio State head coach Lori Walker said. “The girls played for each other and it was a really good team effort. I’m proud of what our seniors have done for us and it was a great way to send them out in their last game here.”
Ohio State took the lead in the 12th minute when Ellyn Gruber found Nichelle Prince, who had slipped in behind the Northwestern defense, with a through ball and the freshman finished off the bottom of the crossbar for the 1-0 advantage.
Prince added another in the 30th minute off assists from Danica Wu and Michela Paradiso when she gathered a through ball at the top of the box and finished far post past Northwestern goalkeeper Jenna Hascher from eight yards.
Five minutes later, Northwestern almost cut into the Ohio State lead when Katie Landgrebe snuck in behind the Buckeye defense for a one-on-one chance but Ohio State goalkeeper Jillian McVicker came out to deflect the ball wide as Ohio State took the 2-0 lead into the half.
Ohio State held an 8-6 lead in shots, 3-2 on goal over the first 45 minutes.
The Buckeyes almost added to their lead in the 50th minute when Kayla Varner broke down the Wildcat defense but Hascher came out to pick the shot from eight yards right off her foot and deflect it wide.
Prince then notched her second hat trick of the season in the 65th minute when she made a diagonal run from the right wing and finished far post from 12 yards out for the 3-0 lead.
Northwestern answered less than four minutes later when Addie Steiner finished on the break from 10 yards off an assist from Katie Landgrebe.
However, Ohio State responded in a big way with three goals in an eight-minute spurt to extend the lead to 6-1.
Alexis Degler finished inside the six-yard box off a long ball from Marisa Wolf in the 72nd minute and, five minutes later, Kristen Niederhaus finished a loose ball from the top of the box to push the advantage to 5-1.
Just over a minute later, Nicole Miyashiro finished a cross from Varner from 10 yards for her first career goal to cap the scoring at 6-1.
For the game, Ohio State held a 22-13 lead in shots, including 12-5 on goal.
Prince converted on all three of her shots on goal for her second hat trick, the other coming in a 4-1 win Sept. 8 at Northeastern. The six-goal game was the first for Ohio State a 6-0 win over Indiana on Senior Day in 2009.
Ohio State travels to Nebraska at 5 p.m. Friday and Iowa at 2 p.m. Sunday.
