Oct. 12, 2013
Columbus, Ohio
Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Ohio State 3 (8-3-3, 2-2-2 Big Ten); Michigan State 1 (7-5-2, 1-5-0 Big Ten)
Attendance: 836
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s soccer team picked up a 3-1 win over Michigan State Saturday evening at Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 8-3-3 overall, 2-2-2 in the Big Ten, while the Spartans drop to 7-5-2, 1-5-0 in conference play.
“Goal scoring is at times one of the most difficult things in soccer and when you have young players playing together, getting that right chemistry is not easy,” Ohio State head coach Lori Walker said. “We’ve done a lot of training to break it down and keep it simple. We have the right people in the right places and tonight we had the confidence to find the back of the net.”
Neither team was able to get on the board through most a physical first half but Ohio State broke through when Ellyn Gruber headed home a Nichelle Prince cross from eight yards to put the Buckeyes up 1-0 in the 38th minute.
The teams headed into the break with Ohio State ahead 1-0. The Buckeyes held a 9-3 lead in shots, 2-1 on goal, over the first 45 minutes.
Ohio State had another opportunity in the 52nd minute when Gruber controlled a through ball from Paradiso, dribbled between two Spartan defenders and flicked a shot from 10 yards out on the left wing but Michigan State goalkeeper Courtney Clem was able to get a hand on it and deflect the shot wide to keep it a one-goal Buckeye advantage.
Things stayed quiet until the 72nd minute when the Buckeyes extended the lead to 2-0. Taylor Schissler found Kayla Varner down the left wing and the junior played a nice through ball to Prince who flicked a shot underneath a diving Clem for the two-goal lead.
The Spartans responded four minutes later when Kirsten Evans found Nicole Caruso at the top of the box and Caruso finished from 18 yards to cut the Buckeye lead to 2-1 in the 76th minute.
However, Ohio State answered right back in the 80th minute when Paradiso possessed on the right wing, beat a Spartan defender and finished far post from 12 yards to give the Buckeyes a 3-1 advantage and put the game away.
For the game, Ohio State held a 21-6 advantage in shots, including 7-4 on goal, and a 6-4 lead in corner kicks. Ohio State goalkeeper Jillian McVicker made three saves in the win.
Ohio State travels to University Park, Pa., to take on Penn State at 3 p.m. Thursday before returning home to face Northwestern on Senior Day at noon next Oct. 20. The Penn State match will be televised live on BTN.
