Ohio State’s defender/minderfielder Talani Barnett (4) takes her shot at a goal against the Wisconsin Badgers on Oct. 21. Ohio State won 2-1. Credit: Cori Wade | For The Lantern
After a win against Maryland, the Ohio State women’s soccer team (4-7-1, 3-2 Big Ten) lost 3-2 to Big Ten opponent Penn State (7-6-1, 3-3) at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Sunday.
The Nittany Lions frontline found its way to the net early and often — redshirt freshman midfielder Ally Schlegel shot her ninth goal of the season in just the fourth minute of play.
In the same half, redshirt freshman midfielder Maddie Myers scored with Ohio State redshirt sophomore defender Maddy Lowe in the box, as junior goalkeeper Bailey Kolinski was knocked down.
Their offensive dominance continued into the second half when freshman midfielder Jordan Canniff shot past redshirt freshman goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz to score in the 61st minute, but the Buckeyes regained their momentum halfway through the period.
“In the first half, we let them dictate play and how the game was gonna go, but once we started pressing collectively and getting organized, everything opened up for us,” senior defender Izzy Rodriguez said. “We had a lot of momentum in the second half and if that’s what we started with, we could have had them on their heels a little earlier.”
Rodreguz scored her first goal of the season on a free kick, as a result of Penn State redshirt senior defender Kaleigh Riehl’s handball in the 69th minute. Later, freshman midfielder Kitty Jones-Black shot a header into the net assisted by junior forward Marissa Birzon to bring the score to 3-2.
“I think we have to gather ourselves and play for each other, and realize we’re a good team when we play for each other,” Jones-Black said. “Izzy’s free kick started [our momentum] and that pushed us and showed that we could get out of the hole if we tried.”
Defensively, the Buckeye backline of Rodriguez, Lowe, senior Marike Mousset and freshman Aliyah El-Naggar allowed 14 shots, while Kolinski and Silkowitz charted two saves. Senior defender Haley Walker-Robinson saw 64 minutes in her first game back after getting injured against Michigan.
“Every game, we’re learning something. Today was that we have to dictate what level of energy we’re gonna come with,” Coach Lori Walker-Hock said. “We showed a level of effort in the last thirty minutes that had we brought that in the beginning of the game, maybe the outcome would be different.”
The Buckeyes look to bounce back as they travel to Purdue for an 8 p.m. showdown on Oct. 8.
