Oct. 6, 2017
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nikki Walts’ game-winner in the 101st minute gave the Ohio State women’s soccer team a 1-0 victory over Michigan State Friday night at Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. With the win, the Buckeyes move to 10-2-1 overall, 5-1-0 in the Big Ten, while the Spartans drop to 5-9-0, 1-6-0 in conference play.
After the teams entered the second overtime scoreless, Izzy Rodriguez played a cross in from the left wing off a Spartan defender to Walts, who ripped a volley from the top of the box past Michigan State goalkeeper Reilley Ott for the Buckeyes’ fourth-consecutive win.
“We had some really good senior leadership tonight,” Lori Walker-Hock, Ohio State head coach, said. “We started to get frustrated because we were dominating every statistic but shooting ourselves in the foot. Young teams can often cave but our captains stepped up and were outstanding. There was no finger-pointing from them and it was all about our team growth. They had a calm head about them and it was just a matter of time. Nikki scored a great goal.”
WOLCOTT WITH THE BUCKEYES’ BEST CHANCES OF THE FIRST 45
In the 25th minute, Walts possessed near the end line on the right wing and laid a pass off to Morgan Wolcott, who ripped a shot from 10 yards off the crossbar and out of play.
With just over five minutes remaining in the half, Riley Bowers found Wolcott with a corner but the header from the center of the box narrowly missed wide right as the match remained scoreless after 45 minutes.
SPARTANS ALMOST TAKE THE LEAD
In the 79th minute, Michigan State tallied its best chance of the game when a long corner was played back into the box but Madison VanDyke’s header from inside the six-yard box sailed just high before the match headed to overtime.
KAMMERDEINER ALMOST ENDS IT IN FIRST OT
Less than five minutes into overtime, Meghan Kammerdeiner broke free in the right wing, made a run parallel to the end line and tried to slot it near post but Ott was there to make the sliding save.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Shots: Ohio State 23, Michigan State 7
Saves: Michigan State 5, Ohio State 1
Shots on Goal: Ohio State 6, Michigan State 1
Corner Kicks: Ohio State 8, Michigan State 2
BUCKEYE BITS
– Ohio State is 10-0-0 on the year when scoring first after going 10-0-1 when scoring first a year ago.
– Ohio State goalkeeper Devon Kerr recorded her fourth-consecutive shutout, seventh of the season and ninth of her career against the Spartans.
– Ohio State is 8-1-7 over the last three seasons in overtime matches.
UP NEXT
Ohio State welcomes Michigan to Columbus for a noon match Sunday. The contest will be televised live on BTN.
Match: Michigan State at No. 15 Ohio State
Date: Oct. 6, 2017
Venue: Jesse Owens Memorial State – Columbus, Ohio
Kickoff: 5 p.m. ET
Attendance: 647
Weather: Cloudy and 76 degrees
| Scoring Summary | 1 | 2 | 1OT | 2OT | F |
| MSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| OSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
