Freshman forward Nichelle Prince (7) looks for a shot during a match against Indiana Sept. 26 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. OSU won, 3-1.
Credit: Ryan Robey / For The Lantern
After tallying just two goals in its last two games, the Ohio State women’s soccer team netted two goals in the first 18 minutes en route to a 3-1 win over Indiana.
The Hoosiers surrendered all three scores before halftime Thursday, allowing one more goal than they had in all of their previous matches of the season combined.
“It says a lot about how hard our forwards have worked to get to that point,” Buckeye junior forward Kayla Varner said. “We’ve been working hard, going into practice early, getting shots off. It felt rewarding, I was happy about it.”
Varner opened the scoring for the Buckeyes in the fourth minute, scoring on a cross from senior midfielder Danica Wu.
“Danica had an awesome cross, and I just happened to be there and finish it,” Varner said.
Wu would also be in on OSU’s second goal, getting a ball through to sophomore forward Michela Paradiso, who found the back of the net in the 18th minute to give the Buckeyes the 2-0 advantage.
“I’m proud of the way that we got in, and the variety that we are creating in our attack,” coach Lori Walker said. “I thought that worked out pretty well for us.”
With just five minutes left in the half, the Buckeyes struck again. Freshman defender Taylor Schissler found fellow freshman midfielder Alexis Degler on a long ball, finishing from short range to put the Buckeyes up 3-0.
“In the first half, we played really solid. We only had five shots and scored three goals, so we were efficient in what we did,” Walker said.
Degler’s goal marked the second time this season three different Buckeyes scored in a single game.
“The most important thing is that we had three different people getting on the board tonight. I think it’s good after losing (graduated forward) Tiffany Cameron … she carried a lot of our goals last year,” senior goalkeeper Rachel Middleman said. “It’s awesome that we got some people up on the board tonight.”
Indiana would not get on the board until the 66th minute, getting a scoring strike from junior midfielder Abby Smith to get the previously unbeaten Hoosiers on the board. Ohio State outshot the Hoosiers 7-6 in the second half, but the Buckeyes were not happy with their performance.
“I’m proud of us that we won, I’m proud of us in the first half, but the second half does not represent the kind of soccer that we want to play,” Walker said.
The Buckeyes (7-1-2) are scheduled to host Purdue Sunday at the Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at 1 p.m.
