Aug. 23, 2016
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s soccer team topped Wright State, 4-2, Tuesday night at Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 2-0-0, while the Raiders drop to 0-2-0.
“I thought we hit a big wall after we scored our two goals early in the first half,” Lori Walker, Ohio State head coach, said. “It’s important to keep your foot on the gas and put a team away. You don’t win a game when you’re up two goals at the half. Credit Wright State for coming back and finding some spaces that we need to close up. I’m proud that we found a way to win and continued to push through.”
For the second-consecutive match, the Buckeyes jumped out to the early lead in the fifth minute when Bridget Skinner followed up her own rebound of a shot from the left wing with a finish from eight yards past Wright State goalkeeper Katie Ruff for the 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Lindsay Agnew played a cross from the left wing to Morgan Wolcott at the center of the box and the co-captain found the back of the net from eight yards for the 2-0 Ohio State advantage.
In the 13th minute, Skinner had another chance off an Agnew throw-in but her volley from 12 yards sailed over the crossbar.
The Buckeyes earned another opportunity in the 36th minute when Sammy Edwards played a through-ball down the right side to Wolcott but Ruff came out from goal to deflect the ball wide off Wolcott’s foot as the match remained 2-0 at the half.
Over the first 45 minutes, Ohio State held a 12-2 lead in shots, including 7-1 on frame. The Buckeyes also held a 3-2 lead in corner kicks.
Wright State then cut the lead in half less than two minutes into the second half when Aaliyah Patton was taken down in the box and Niki Romero converted the penalty kick past Ohio State goalkeeper Jillian McVicker to make it a 2-1 contest.
The Raiders knotted the score in the 58th minute when Patten played a cross in from the end line on the right wing and Mattie Cutts headed it inside the left post from six yards to make it a 2-2 game.
Less than two minutes later, Nicole Miyashiro possessed off a failed Wright State clearance, passed back to Nikki Walts and the junior blasted a shot from 30 yards off the outstretched arm off Ruff and inside the left post as Ohio State regained a 3-2 advantage.
The Buckeyes almost doubled the lead in the 61st minute when Agnew beat a defender to the end line on the left wing and played a cross into the center of the box but Arden Holden’s one-time shot narrowly missed wide left.
Ohio State then made it 4-2 in the 74th minute when Agnew played a through ball down the left wing where Nya Cason latched on to it and lofted a left-footed shot from a near-impossible angle to give the Buckeyes the two-goal lead that they would hold on to.
For the match, Ohio State outshot the Raiders, 20-6, including 11-3 on frame, and held a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Ohio State hits the road to face Miami (Fla.) at 8 p.m. Friday.
