Senior forward Makenna Webster (8) and freshman forward Brenna Bough (19) celebrates while leaving the field after the Buckeyes won 7-0 against Bellarmine at Buckeye Varsity Field Sunday.
Credit: Sandra Fu | Lantern Photographer
In its last game of the regular season, No. 13 Ohio State (13-5, 4-4 Big Ten) finished on a successful note with a 7-0 shutout against Bellarmine (7-9, 3-3 MAC) and a celebration for its graduating class Sunday at Buckeye Varsity Field.
The Buckeyes turned the heat on with their first goal scored at the 12:10 mark of the first period, scored by sophomore forward Lindsey Roberts — marking her first goal of the season.
“I think the team has really focused this season, game by game we’re making sure we’re executing our plan,” assistant coach Kate Lipton said. “They’ve been really focused the whole way through, so today was just another day to show that.”
Junior midfielder and forward Cameryn Forgash scored Ohio State’s second goal, putting the Buckeyes further ahead.
“In our pregame meeting, we talked about keeping to our basics and focusing on the game that we wanted to play, so playing around their defense and getting shots on goal,” graduate midfielder Leanne Bough said. “Just knowing that this game was good practice to set us up for Big Ten play.”
Ohio State’s third goal was scored by freshman forward and midfielder Brenna Bough with an assist from senior forward Makenna Webster. This goal was just the beginning for Brenna Bough, as she went on to score two more in the fourth period.
Going into the third period, the Bellarmine Knights still had no attempted shots or penalty corners. The score remained 3-0, with Ohio State up for the rest of the third.
Sunday was the team’s Senior Day to celebrate the 2024 graduating class, one of whom is graduate midfielder and back Julie Rodijk who scored Ohio State’s fourth goal, 3.5 minutes into the fourth period.
Head coach Jarred Martin had high praise for his team after its dominant win on Sunday.
“To see where we’ve come from since I was even first here and when they were freshmen and sophomores is a direct connection to how much they’ve invested in this team,” Martin said. “Four years of task-oriented commitment, and they keep building and bringing the underclassmen with them, so that’s been really fun to see.”
The fourth period secured a season-high score of 7 points for the Buckeyes after sophomore midfielder Jessica Courtright scored their fifth goal and Brenna Bough performed an impressive hat trick.
Ohio State is off for a week and will head to the Big Ten Tournament hosted by Michigan, still awaiting match pairings, from Nov. 2-5.
