After upsetting No. 10 Northwestern, 3-2, on Wednesday, the Ohio State field hockey team routed visiting Missouri State and made history in the process.
OSU (7-3) defeated Missouri State (3-6), 10-1, on Sunday, at Buckeye Varsity Field. The 10 goals are tied for the most any OSU team has ever scored in a single game. Six OSU players scored in the game and three members of the team had multiple goals.
The Buckeyes’ offensive attack was led by three goals from senior forward Berta Queralt. In OSU’s last three games in five days, they’ve scored 21 goals, a figure that triples the amount of goals they netted in the first seven games of the season.
“We were moving the ball very well and we were attacking in numbers,” said coach Anne Wilkinson. “We are finding the open player and we are very, very unselfish with the ball.”
Thanks to an assist from junior midfielder Paula Pastor-Pitarque, OSU took the lead early with Queralt’s first goal of the game almost five minutes into the contest.
Queralt said the team could have taken it easy today because it was their third game in a week, but they came out and passed the ball and finished their scoring opportunities well.
Next, senior forward Danica Deckard netted her 10th goal of the season with the help of an assist from sophomore midfielder Mona Frommhold.
Just 33 seconds later Frommhold scored a goal of her own, deflecting in a shot from freshman forward Peanut Johnson.
“We are just working really well together, connecting passes and stuff,” Deckard said.
Queralt scored again on a reverse shot in front of the net with 17 minutes left in the half after an assist Deckard. The two would team up again later.
Pastor-Pitarque scored the half’s last goal seven minutes later, making the score 4-0 in favor of the Buckeyes.
“We kept the patience, kept passing around, practicing the easiest ball and playing our field hockey,” Pastor-Pitarque said. “I think that was the key, us playing unselfish and the team playing like we would do against the best teams of the Big Ten.”
The Buckeyes came out firing in the second half as Queralt scored her third goal of the game, and sixth of the season, less than two minutes into the half. Deckard provided the pass to Queralt.
The next two goals came in an eight-minute span from Johnson and brought the score to 8-0. She scored both shots unassisted and leads OSU’s freshmen class with three goals this season.
With 19 minutes left in the game, Missouri State scored their lone goal. Pastor-Pitarque answered the Bears’ shot two minutes later, scoring her second goal of the game which extended the Buckeyes’ lead back to eight.
The final goal of the game came with less than two minutes to play and was scored by freshman back Emma Royce. She sent a screaming slapshot into the goal on a pass from Frommhold.
Players from the Buckeye bench saw more action than usual as seven players came off the bench and six of them played 20 minutes or more. In the last five matches an average of almost four players have substituted in. Just five times have one of those players played more than 20 minutes.
“It was nice to have some of the younger kids get in to play and get those minutes so they can build their confidence up,” Deckard said.
The Buckeyes are scheduled to play against Robert Morris University, Wednesday at Buckeye Varsity Field.