Soccer Falls to Ohio 1-0 in MAC Tournament
11/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
The Bobcats advance to meet No. 3-seed Western Michigan University in Fridays semifinals at Kalamazoo, Mich., after three of the top four seeds in the tournament lost in the opening round.
Ohio controlled much of the play in the early going, outshooting KSU 4-1 in the first 20 minutes. The Bobcats had two chances less than 45 seconds apart in the 17th minute when a shot by Christel Schiering hit the crossbar and was followed up by a Natalie Grein shot along the ground that sent Kent States freshman keeper Alicia Fernandez (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) diving to her right to knock the shot past the left post.
The Bobcats maintained the pressure, finally scoring in the 20th minute when a KSU defensive clear was taken out of the air by Gina Siedentopf at midfield. Siedentopf then took two hard dribbles ahead, driving a shot from 25 yards out that went into the upper left corner, past the outstretched arms of Fernandez, for her fourth goal of the season.
Kent State would rally and start to regain control of the play, starting in the 30th minute when senior forward Lauren Caminati (Solon, Ohio/Solon) had the Flashes best chance of the first half when she had a shot from the top of the box go just wide past the left post.
In the second frame, Kent State had the better of the play, controlling the tempo throughout the final 45 minutes. The Golden Flashes would outshot Ohio 10-7 in the half, but was not able to post a tying tally.
Freshman forward Ashley Bohinc (Chesterland, Ohio/West Geauga) had a pair of chances in the 60th minute, ripping a shot that was saved but went through OU keeper Michelle Melaughlins arms and off the post. The ball was then sent back out to Bohinc and her second attempt went wide past the right post.
Kent State had another chance foiled when Meglaughlin was in the right position to scoop up senior midfielder Kacy McMillans (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) redirected shot from near the penalty spot. The Golden Flashes final scoring opportunity came with 17 minutes to play when Caminati ripped a volley off a cross-field pass, but her shot was blocked in front by an Ohio defender.
The Golden Flashes outshot Kent State 15-11 in the contest and had seven corner kicks to OUs six. Meglaughlin made six saves for Ohio, while Fernandez had two saves.
The loss brought Kent States season to a close, after a that saw the Golden Flashes claim their first MAC regular-season championship and set school records with eight conference victories, a 10-game winning streak and 11 shutouts.
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