Senior forward Emma Sears (19) dribbles the ball during the Ohio State-Northwestern game Sunday. Northwestern won 2-0. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor
The No. 17 Ohio State women’s soccer team fell 2-0 to Northwestern in its regular season finale Sunday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Senior forward Emma Sears nearly opened the scoring for Ohio State (10-3-3, 5-3-2 Big Ten) in the third minute after taking the ball away from a Northwestern defender but was dislodged from the ball before she was able to attempt a shot in the box.
Northwestern (13-3-2, 7-2-1 Big Ten) had its best attempt in the 16th minute when freshman goalkeeper Molly Pritchard denied a shot by junior forward Meg Boade.
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead on the ensuing corner kick after sophomore defender Emma Phillips headed the cross from junior midfielder Josie Aulicino.
Northwestern doubled its lead in the 19th minute when senior forward Aurea del Carmen found Boade with a through ball, leading Boade to dispatch the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net.
The Buckeyes nearly cut their deficit in half when senior forward Kayla Fischer’s shot from the left side of the box was stopped by Northwestern graduate goalkeeper Mia Raben.
On the ensuing corner kick, sophomore forward Kailyn Dudukovich had tried to put Ohio State on the board with a point-blank shot, but it was stopped by Raben.
The Buckeyes entered halftime trailing 2-0 while being outshot 7-3.
The first shot on goal of the second half came from junior midfielder Peyton McNamara, who was denied by Raben in the 84th minute. Northwestern junior forward Ella Hase countered in the 88th minute but was denied by Pritchard.
At the final whistle, Northwestern was victorious by a score of 2-0.
Although Ohio State failed to score in both halves, head coach Lori Walker-Hock said she preferred one half over the other.
“I thought our performance in the second half was much sharper,” Walker-Hock said. “We played from our heart a little bit more.”
Sears said the discussion at halftime helped turn the game around for Ohio State, keeping the Wildcats scoreless in the second half.
“We decided that we need to make a decision whether or not we were going to come out in the second half or rollover,” Sears said. “I think that lit a fire under us, which gave us some momentum heading into the second half.”
With the loss, the Buckeyes suffered back-to-back shutouts and lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
The date, time and opponent for Ohio State’s Big Ten Women’s Soccer Tournament quarterfinal next week have yet to be announced.
