Shelby Lum / Photo editor
Senior midfilder Kristen Niederhaus looks for an open teammate during a game against Eastern Michigan on Aug. 25, at Jesse Owen’s Memorial Stadium. OSU won, 2-1.
After starting the season with two victories over the weekend, the Ohio State women’s soccer team is home to take on Pittsburgh, Wednesday at the Bert L. & Iris S. Wolstein Field at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. With a 2-1 overtime victory over Eastern Michigan Sunday, the No. 24 Buckeyes have tied a program record at 13 straight unbeaten regular season matches, starting in September 2012.
Pittsburgh comes to Wednesday’s contest with a win in its only regular season match so far, defeating Duquesne 1-0 Sunday. Sophomore forward Roosa Arvas scored the only goal of the game for the Panthers.
The two wins over Morehead State and Eastern Michigan for the Buckeyes Friday and Sunday both came in comeback fashion. Lindsey Agnew’s goal in 84th minute Friday defeated Morehead State and Ellyn Gruber’s overtime winner completed the weekend sweep for OSU.
Freshman forward Nichelle Prince has been a spark this season as well, adding a goal and two assists in her first two games as a Buckeye.
“Nichelle is a very experienced player, she has (played) with her full national team in Canada,” coach Lori Walker said after Friday’s win. “She is a seasoned player, even as a freshman…It’s a great experience that we have to be able to lean on.”
Walker also spoke of the importance of getting scoring from another freshman in forward Lindsey Agnew. The Buckeyes lost their top two goal scorers from a year ago to graduation.
“I think that those two are gonna have an amazing career together, and people like Michela Paradiso finding them and getting (passes) into them is gonna really fun to watch this year,” Walker said.
With the 3-2 win over Morehead State Friday, Walker reached the 200 career win plateau, becoming the first in school history to achieve the mark. She has spent 17 years as head coach of the Buckeyes, amassing a 188-124-28 record over that time.
These two teams last met in August 2010, as Ohio State traveled to Pittsburgh, shutting out the Panthers 2-0. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
