Final Stats

ATHENS, OH - Rachael Najjar scored two goals and added an assist to help propel Ohio to a 4-1 victory over the University of Toledo women's soccer team Friday afternoon. The Mid-American Conference match was held at the Ohio Soccer Field on Shafer Street.

The loss drops the Rockets to 5-8-1 overall, 4-5-1 MAC, while the Bobcats improve to 7-6-0 overall, 6-2-0 MAC.

"This was a tough loss for us with only two weeks left in our conference season," Toledo Head Coach Brad Evans said. "Every game is very important. We had our share of chances today, but we were unable to cash them in, unlike Ohio, who was able to take advantage."

Sophomore Melissa Lesage scored UT's lone goal of the match, which cut the OU lead to 3-1 at the 69:10 mark of the second half. Junior Corrie Hasenjager was credited with the assist.

Lesage took Hasenjager's pass and made a nifty move on her OU defender. The UT speedster then had a breakaway down the center and deposited the ball into the back of the net for her team-leading sixth goal of the season. Lesage's score ended a school-record drought of 429:10 without a goal for the Rockets.

Najjar scored the only goal of the first half at the 26:30 mark when her shot hit the right goal post and bounced in off a Rocket defender. On the score, Megan Cummins earned her first assist of the season.

In the second half, it was Najjar's turn to feed Christel Schiering, who scored on a breakaway from the left side after receiving a cross from Najjar. The goal, coming at 51:36, was Schiering's team-leading eighth of the season.

Najjar struck again at 67:00 when she deflected a cross from Abby Leopold into the left corner of Toledo's goal past Elise Donovan to give Ohio a 3-0 lead. The Rockets quickly answered with Lesage's tally two minutes later, but that would be as close as UT would get.

Ohio's Kelly Prandi finished the scoring at the 87:26 mark. The freshman's goal came on a misdirection shot off a cross by Ashley Jakeway and a pass from Kendra Hornschemeier. For the game, the Bobcats outshot Toledo, 32-13.

The Midnight Blue and Gold will return to action on Sunday, Oct. 21, as they will venture to Huntington, WV to tangle with Marshall at 1:00 p.m.

FINAL SCORE:
OU 4, UT 1

OU: R. Najjar (Cummins), 26:30
OU: C. Schiering (Najjar), 51:36
OU: R. Najjar (Leopold), 67:00
UT: M. Lesage (Hasenjager), 69:10
OU: K. Prandi (Hornschemeier, Jakeway), 87:26


Shots: UT 13, OU 32
Saves: UT 8, OU 5
Corner Kicks: UT 3, OU 1
Fouls: UT 12, OU 11