COLUMBUS, Ohio – A stellar performance by
Izzie Vaccari in goal kept the Miami soccer team close throughout its contest at Ohio State, but MU was unable to mount a comeback bid in a 1-0 setback on Friday night.
"I thought as a group we executed our game plan," head coach
Courtney Sirmans said. "We shifted really well and stayed disciplined defensively. I wish we would've connected a few more passes when we won the ball in transition, but we panicked too quickly. Still, I couldn't be prouder of their buy in to what we are doing as a team this year."
Ohio State set up its possession game pretty much at the outset and kept play in the attacking end for the majority of the first half. The Buckeyes would fire the first 10 shots of the evening as they kept
Izzie Vaccari busy throughout the opening 45 minutes. For her part, Vaccari made three stops and MU's defense was able to stymy numerous OSU possessions as it tried to crack into the 18-yard box.
The times the RedHawks took the ball in transition, they found themselves narrowly missing on a key penetrating feed. With time winding down in the half,
Lyda Bogdanovitch nearly put Miami on the board with its first shot as her 30-yard blast appeared labeled for the top of the net, but Bailey Kolinski got her fingers on the ball to tip it off the bottom of the crossbar. The ball went straight down and officials took another look at the replay, but determined the ball did not cross the goal line and the contest remained scoreless.
Following the close call, OSU cracked the scoreboard less than a minute later as Kayla Fischer fired a shot from the left wing that found the far post in the 39th minute to stake the Buckeyes to a 1-0 lead at halftime.
While Miami used stellar goalkeeping from Vaccari to keep the score close throughout, in particular with a point blank stop early in the second half, it found itself unable to mount sustained pressure in the second half. The Red and White got a corner kick with about 10 minutes to go, but otherwise did not get into the attacking box with any possession as they did not register a shot in the final 45.
Ohio State outshot Miami by a 26-1 count with a 10-1 advantage in corner kicks. Vaccari finished the night with eight saves in goal.
Miami wraps up its non-conference slate on Sept. 20 when it hosts Xavier and honors former head coach Bobby Kramig. A special pre-game ceremony will precede the 4 p.m. kickoff.
