ATHENS, OH ? Toledo played its best match of the Mid-American Conference season this afternoon and claimed a 2-0 victory against Ohio at Chessa Field. With the win, the Rockets improved to 7-4-0 overall and more importantly evened their league record to 2-2-0.
“It was great to come out of today's match with the win,” junior forward Heather Wesley said. “I thought today was our best effort during conference play. We played together as a team and did all the little things well.”
The two-time defending MAC tourney champs started quickly and had a couple of chances to take the early lead, but Bobcats' goalkeeper Jess MacLean made a few nice saves to keep the score tied. Ohio's (2-7-2, 1-2-1 MAC) Sara Seitz then used some of that momentum from the defensive side and came within an eyelash of taking the lead early in the 19th minute. Teammate Erika Schmitt's corner kick came right to Seitz, who headed the ball just off the crossbar. Toledo's defense made a quick recovery and cleared the ball away to silence any additional Bobcat threat.
UT continued to be strong offensively as the first half wore on and kept possession of the ball on the Ohio side of the field. The visitors' persistence finally paid off in the 32nd minute when sophomore Brittany Hensler fired a shot from 17-yards out over MacLean's outstretched arms and into the top right corner of the net. The unassisted goal was Hensler's third on the season. Neither squad managed much of an attack for the remainder of the half and UT took the 1-0 advantage into the intermission.
Ohio's Schmitt had an opportunity early in the second half to draw the teams even. Teammate Courtney Mink made a nice pass on a ball to Schmitt, who got around a Rocket defender and had a one-one-one opportunity with freshman goalkeeper Vicki Traven. A Rocket defender made a nice break from the side and managed to get a foot on the ball and deflect away the potential scoring chance.
As it did through the last chunk of the first stanza, Toledo controlled the possession and managed to convert once more in the 49th minute. The Rockets' senior Laura Mecklenborg made a nice crossing pass from the far right corner of the box and Wesley was in the right position to head it just inside the bottom corner of the goal. The tally was the second on the season for Wesley, while Mecklenborg was credited with her first collegiately helper.
Toledo finished the match with 17 shots, including 10 on goal, while the Bobcats totaled five. Five different Rockets had two shots in the victory, while Traven worked all 90 minutes between the posts and was credited with two saves in collecting the shutout.
The Rockets return to action on Friday, Oct. 10 when they host Miami at 4:00 p.m. Friday's match has been designated as “Think Pink Day” at Scott Park. The soccer team will wear pink jerseys against the RedHawks and they will raffle them off after the match with all the proceeds going to Susan G. Komen for the cure.
TOLEDO 2, Ohio 0
UT: B. Hensler (Unassisted), 32:44
UT: H. Wesley (L. Mecklenborg), 49:37
SHOTS: UT 17, OU 5
CORNER KICKS: UT 6, OU 1
SAVES: UT 2, OU 8
FOULS: UT 7, OU 3
