Then-senior forward Danica Deckard passes the ball during a game against Penn State Oct. 19, 2012, at Buckeye Varsity Field. OSU lost, 3-0.
Credit: Courtesy of Facebook
After back-to-back losses to top-10 squads, the Ohio State field hockey team will continue play away from home when it travels to Oxford to take on Miami (Ohio).
Coming off a weekend of play in which the team held opponents to one goal each in both matches, the Buckeyes are ready to battle again Wednesday.
Coach Anne Wilkinson said Miami will be coming after them hard on the field.
“We, being Ohio State, have a lot of pressure put on us. Miami is going to be coming at us strong with everything they have, so we really need to win this in-state game,” she said.
Wilkinson said time in practice has been split between working on defense and offense equally.
“We worked a lot on our defense and covering the ball and then we would switch and work with the offense,” Wilkinson said. “We just need to focus on meshing the two together and make sure the defense doesn’t forget what we worked on when we switch to offense.”
Senior midfield and co-captain Nora Murer pointed out some of the areas the team has been struggling with, including their inability to capitalize on penalty corners.
“We practiced before and after practice on our corners which I would say is still a weak spot of ours,” Murer said.
Senior midfield and co-captain Arielle Cowie said she is coming into the game expecting a win, and wants to see the team live up to its potential.
“I am looking forward to winning,” Cowie said. “Last weekend we played so well together. We didn’t finish our chances but those two games just showed the potential that we have and I think coming out tomorrow we are going into that game and we know this is our game.”
The main focus is on being a team that works together for the full 70 minutes, Cowie said.
“We are just going to focus on really playing together and that’s all we need to do because individually, we have it but we just need to put it together and score on our chances,” Cowie said.
Murer said if the Buckeyes continue to play the way they did this past weekend, the team will have no trouble securing the win against Miami.
“We just need to really play on the same level from the weekend and we will be good for (Wednesday’s) game,” Murer said.
The game is scheduled to begin Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The Buckeyes are then set to travel to face Kent State Sept. 24 at 4 p.m.
