Ohio State sophomore defender Izzy Rodriguez (9) scores a goal off a penalty kick in the second half of the game against Iowa on Sept. 27. Ohio State won 2-0. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Photo Editor
The Ohio State women’s soccer team and the Nebraska Cornhuskers both recently came off victories against previous opponents, but ultimately concluded the match against each other in a 1-1 draw on the Buckeyes’ Senior Day.
With this tie, Ohio State’s overall record will be set at 6-4-1, 3-1-1 in the Big Ten, while Nebraska sits 8-3-3, 4-0-2 in the Big Ten.
After Ohio State’s previous 2-0 win at home against Iowa on Thursday, the Buckeyes seemed to get off to a slow start against Nebraska.
The first goal of the afternoon for Ohio State came from sophomore defender Izzy Rodriguez in the 58th minute of the second half.
“I think as a team we came out a little bit slow in the first half,” Rodriguez said. “But we made those changes in the second half, really went at them, we got our chances and came back from being down which we haven’t really done before, so it was good thing from our team to grind it out.”
Freshmen forward Emaly Vatne said that the team picked it up in the second half, but wasn’t able to continue the momentum to the very end.
“The way that we responded and battled in the second half and in overtime is something to be proud of,” Vatne said. “But there’s still a lot of things we need to work on.”
The Cornhusker fans that filled the stands of Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium witnessed senior forward Faith Carter put Nebraska in the 1-0 early lead by scoring a goal in the 24th minute of the first half.
After tying the game at the end of regulation, the Buckeyes went into overtime with the Cornhuskers, but neither team was able to come out on top.
Senior goalkeeper Devon Kerr gathered five saves for Ohio State, recording a total of 47 saves so far this year.
The Buckeyes earned a total of five saves compared to the Cornhuskers four, with Ohio State holding a 5-4 edge in corner kicks over Nebraska.
Both Vatne and Rodriguez said the team still needs to work on having more composure on the ball, keeping good communication and also finishing.
Vatne said the team is really excited to play on the road next weekend against Michigan and Michigan State.
“There’s two good opponents we have to play,” Vatne said. “We have a lot of people from that area, so it should be a lot of fun and were pretty confident with how were playing.”
After tying with Nebraska at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, the Buckeyes will look to finish next weekend’s pair of games in a victory.
Rodriguez said there are still a couple of things that the team needs to work on heading into the next few games, but overall she feels pretty confident.
“Our work rates have been high,” Rodriguez said. “Our practices have been good, and there’s a few things we’ll have to tweak but I think we’ll be good.”
The Ohio State women’s soccer team will hit the road once again for a series of away games, starting with the Wolverines next Friday at 7 p.m., then moving to the Spartans next Sunday at 1 p.m.
