Oct. 22, 2016
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Ohio State women’s soccer team picked up a crucial Big Ten win at rival Michigan, 2-1, Saturday night in Ann Arbor. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 10-5-3, 4-3-3 in the Big Ten, while the Wolverines drop to 9-4-3, 5-3-2 in conference play.
“I am very proud of our squad,” Lori Walker, Ohio State head coach, said. “In four years, this group of seniors never had the chance to play Michigan at home. This game meant a lot to them in particular. Devon Kerr was selected as our player of the match by the team after making several fantastic saves. Our team defending as a whole is to be commended. We thwarted numerous dangerous set pieces, battling for first and second balls. This was a well-deserved road win for us.”
EDWARDS PUTS BUCKS UP EARLY
Sammy Edwards gave Ohio State the early lead in the fifth minute. Edwards possessed a loose ball inside the box and finished inside the left post from 14 yards past Michigan goalkeeper Sarah Jackson for her fifth goal of the season.
KERR KEEPS THE BUCKEYES AHEAD
In the 23rd minute, a loose ball fell to Michigan’s Jackie White but Ohio State goalkeeper Devon Kerr was there to make the save on the shot from six yards.
KASTROLL TIES IT
In the 32nd minute, Kerr was able to make the save on a shot by Reilly Martin but Abby Kastroll tapped in the rebound to knot the score at 1-1.
PRINCE OPENS SECOND-HALF SCORING
Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Nichelle Prince gave Ohio State the lead once again, scoring her fifth goal of the year on a shot from eight yards out.
KERR PRESERVES THE LEAD
In the 64th minute, Ani Sarkisian snuck in behind the Buckeye defense and forced a one-on-one with Kerr but the Ohio State sophomore was up to the task, coming out to make a diving save to preserve the 2-1 lead.
Then in the 77th minute, Reilly Martin played a free kick from the left wing toward the far post and Kerr ranged far to her left to make another big save to keep the Buckeyes ahead.
PRINCE ALMOST PUTS IT AWAY
In the 84th minute, Prince almost made it a 3-1 contest but her shot from the top of the box caromed off the crossbar and was cleared away.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Shots: Michigan 15, Ohio State 8
Saves: Ohio State 5, Michigan 2
Shots on Goal: Michigan 6, Ohio State 4
Corner Kicks: Michigan 6, Ohio State 0
BUCKEYE BITS
– Ohio State improved to 9-1-1 when scoring at least two goals this season and 25-1-2 when doing so dating back to the 2013 season.
– Prince moved into a tie with Lara Dickenmann for eighth on the Ohio State career goals list with 27. Her 74 career points also rank sixth all-time in program history.
– Ohio State has now reached the 10-win plateau in seven of the last eight seasons.
UP NEXT
Ohio State closes out the regular season at Penn State at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
