The Ohio State Women’s Soccer team huddle up before the Ohio State-Northwestern game on March 28. Ohio State won 1-0. Credit: Andrew Horne | Lantern Reporter
No. 2 Ohio State will take on No. 7 Maryland for a second time this season in its first playoff game Thursday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
“It was super exciting to see that we were second, it was kind of just a notion towards all of our hard work paying off,” sophomore forward Emma Sears said. “We’ve been in this bubble since last summer, and we’ve all kind of stuck to the grind and I think that that’s really paying off for us this year.”
The Buckeyes and the Terrapins met previously in College Park, Mayland, where Ohio State won 3-1. Freshman midfielders Peyton McNamara and Kine Flotre had the goals that put the Buckeyes on top, while senior midfielder Sydney Staier found the net for the Terrapins.
Ohio State’s offense has been the star of the show this season, with Sears, McNamara and junior forward Kayla Fischer having combined for 13 of the team’s 17 goals this season.
Sears said the trio works so well together due to their different skill sets.
“We all bring different components to the field and we’re good at being creative on the ball and like using our own skills to manage,” Sears said. “I think that just sticking to what we do best is gonna really help us against Maryland.”
Maryland has not scored in six games, with their last goal coming from sophomore forward Keyera Wynn in the team’s loss against Indiana March 6.
“Throughout the season we really focused on what we’re good at and exploiting other teams that way,” Sears said. “I think that just sticking to what we do best, and staying connected as a team I think that that’s going to help us win against Maryland.”
The Big Ten Regional Weekend format was announced Sunday. Penn State and Wisconsin were seeded first in the East and West regions and moved directly onto the second round, which will be hosted at the campus of the highest ranking team.
If Ohio State wins Thursday, its next game will be against the winner of Michigan State and Rutgers Sunday.
The game is set to kick off at noon at the Jesse, yet capacity will be limited. It will be broadcast on BTN+.
