The Ohio State women’s soccer team ended its regular season on a high note Sunday afternoon, knocking off Indiana, 3-0, on Senior Day at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
With the win, OSU finishes the regular season with a 10-8-1 record. More importantly, the Buckeyes’ 5-5-1 mark within the conference is good for seventh-place and earns the team qualification into the Big Ten tournament, to be held Nov. 2-6 at Northwestern.
Senior goalie Katie Baumgardner, who recorded her sixth shutout of the season, said getting a win and a clean sheet in her last home game was the ideal situation.
“It couldn’t have gotten any better,” she said. “We got everyone on the field so that was our goal and I’m just happy we got the win and are moving on.”
Junior forward Tiffany Cameron and senior forward Caitlyn Martin had first half goals for the Buckeyes, while junior midfielder Kendyl Reed tallied a score in the second half.
Martin said that scoring a goal to go along with the victory was “icing on the cake.”
“It was really special,” she said. “We have a great senior group and we’re really close so it was really special to go out here on our last day in the Jesse and get a win and play for each other. It was a great team effort.”
The victory was No. 49 for the women’s soccer 2011 senior class, moving them into a tie for second place along with the 2006 class for the winningest four-year group in program history, two wins behind the top-mark of 51 achieved by last year’s class. With the possibility to play up to three games in the conference tournament, the 2011 class will have a chance to tie or eclipse that number.
“This is a really competitive group of girls,” Baumgardner said. “I’m sure we’re going to try and get those last two (wins) to at least tie it up, and with three more wins we would win the Big Ten tournament so that would be ideal. Hopefully we get there, too.”
Coach Lori Walker said that the thing that stands out most about the seniors is the quality of their character.
“From top to bottom I think they’re just some of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with,” she said. “…Anytime you can have nine seniors go from the beginning to the end together it’s a testament to their strength.”
The Buckeyes will take on Illinois in the first round of the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday at a time yet to be determined. OSU defeated the Fighting Illini, 2-1, in the teams’ regular season matchup in Columbus on Sept. 23 for the program’s 200th victory.
Stay tuned to the Lantern for a preview of the Buckeyes in the Big Ten tournament later this week.
