ATHENS, OH - Redshirt freshman Isa Echeverri powered the Rockets to a 3-1 victory over Ohio in Athens on Sunday afternoon. The Medellin, Colombia native tallied a pair of goals to help the Toledo improve their record to 4-6-0 in the Mid-American Conference and 7-10-1 overall.
The Bobcats held a 15-14 shot advantage but the Rockets fired 10 shots on goal compared to Ohio's seven. Echeverri fired a game-high five shots on goal while junior Geri Siudzinski followed with two blasts and a goal of her own.
Junior goalkeeper Sam Tiongson tallied five saves in her seventh win of the season including a point blank stop of an Ohio header in the first half which UT head coach Brad Evans called a crucial point in the match.
"That's a great team win. I'm proud of the team, we played loose and relaxed in what was in essence a knockout game,” Evans said. “Isa and Geri stepped up and took the lead in the middle of the field. Sophie (Pohl) came off the bench and played very well and opened up the game for us quite a bit. Sam made a great save off a point blank header in the first half to maintain the lead for us and that was a turning point in the game."
The Rockets attack was jump started by a pair of early free kicks just outside the Ohio box. The first try in the 17th minute was just off the mark as Hannah Scafaria just missed the net with a header attempt. However, three minutes later Echeverri made her mark.
The crafty midfielder lined up a free kick from 20 yards out and bent a shot around the wall of defenders inside the back post to make it 1-0 Toledo in the 20th minute.
Tiongson's big time save in the 22nd minute was the only real quality chance the Bobcats were able to find in the first half and the Rockets took the slight 1-0 lead into the second half.
Toledo lit the scoreboard again in the 59th minute off of a corner kick. Junior defender Megan Connor played a nifty header pass to Echeverri who then lifted a shot to the back post to give UT the 2-0 lead.
The offensive attack of Toledo continued to pressure the Ohio defense and the Rockets broke through again as Siudzinski fired a shot past the Bobcats keeper and rippled the net to give UT a commanding 3-0 lead with 25 minutes left to play.
The shutout was not meant to be however as Ohio eventually tallied a goal of their own in the 86th minute off of a penalty kick.
The Rockets will conclude their regular season on Thursday at Scott Park against Central Michigan with kickoff slated for 3:00 p.m.
"I am proud of the team and how we played under the circumstances today,” Echeverri said. “It was a hard game and it feels great to win again. Now we are focusing on Thursdays game and I believe my team will make it to the tournament."
