COLUMBUS, OHIO (Sept. 4, 2015) – The FIU women's soccer team (1-3-0) fell to the No. 17 Ohio State Buckeyes, 3-1, on Friday morning.
"Defensively, we played well. All three goals against us came off set pieces, so we need to do a much better job there," said Head Coach
Thomas Chestnutt. "During the rest of the match, it was pretty much a stale-mate. Ohio State created a few more chances than we created. They're a good team. They move the ball very well. We need to do a better job in the attacking half of the field, so we will need more commitment there. There are a lot of things I like about our game, so we'll continue to highlight those and work on some other tactics before Sunday."
The Panthers pressed the Buckeyes early and forced a corner kick two minutes into the match, but senior
Madlen Weinhardt couldn't connect on the other end. Junior
Alyssa Robinson fired a close-distance shot on the right side that was blocked one minute later, while sophomore
Ellen Crist regained possession and sent another chance on net but missed wide.
The Buckeyes buried the game's first score in the 31
st minute when Nichelle Prince finished a header off an Ohio State set piece. Robinson nearly equalized the match in the 34
th minute, but her shot from the top of the 18 hit the cross bar. FIU tried one final attempt in the 42
nd minute with redshirt senior
Scarlet Montoya taking a corner, but the Panthers couldn't finish the chance. Ohio State countered on the other end and forced sophomore
Nevena Stojakovic to make the save on the play.
"I thought we made some good plays getting into the box, but I think we had some trouble capitalizing off ball when we were getting behind their defense," redshirt senior
Nikki Rios said. "Next game, we need to come out playing like we want to win, rather than not wanting to lose. It's a whole different mentality."
Fifteen seconds into the second half, Weinhardt capitalized off an Ohio State giveaway in its own third of the field and finished a one-on-one play with a dagger from 12 yards out to equalize the game at 1-1. Freshman
Lyrik Fryer tried to put FIU up with a shot from the top of the box at the 55-minute mark, but the ball went high. Ohio State climbed back ahead 58 minutes into the match when an own goal off a set piece rolled past the end-line. The Buckeyes then made it a two-goal lead nearly five minutes later when the Buckeyes' Sammy Edwards finished off a corner kick with a shot from inside the six. Robinson tried to pull FIU back within one goal after 71 minutes but Devon Kerr came up with the stop.
"Our mentality is just moving forward. It's still the beginning of the season, so we have a good chunk of non-conference action left," said freshman
Emily Baragar. "Conference play is a whole new season, so we're really just focusing on capitalizing off the chances we are able to create."
FIU's tour of Ohio ends on Sunday, as the Panthers travel to Oxford, Ohio, for a 1 p.m. matinee with the Miami (OH) Redhawks on Sunday, Sept. 6.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUWomensSoccer) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUWSoccer) for all the latest FIU women's soccer news.
Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium.About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member ofConference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
