Semi-Finals vs. ONU

Yesterday afternoon we took the trip to Ohio Northern University to play in the Semi-Finals of the OAC Tournament. ONU beat us in the regular season 0-1 at home and our team knew how important it was to win the game and prove that we deserve to advance to the final. Despite the rain and wind our girls fought hard through the challenges and walked away with another W!

As the game began it became clear that it would be a battle for possession and the team that could attack at speed the most effectively would be the victors. The first few minutes was back and forth with both teams attacking and trying to get the competitive advantage and control the game. We started off a little slow and allowed ONU to accumulate 4 corner kicks within 20 minutes. On the flip side we prevented every attack, defended hard and kept the game scoreless at the half.

In the second half the weather picked up and made the field exceptionally slick with gusts of wind that manipulated the ball. The girls knew that they had 45 minutes to seal the deal and began the half attempting to gain control over the play. Again however we came out slow while ONU came out fast and attacked our goal with vengeance. Our defending however kept strong and between our back line and our keeper, Kim Leitch, we stopped all of their attempts. Half way through, we began to play our game and started winning the 50/50 balls out of the air and distributing creatively to our forwards. We attacked at speed and took it to their defense and keeper showing our true skill and heart. After many shots on goals that were either saved, deflected, or wide we finally set up an opportunity in the 70th minute and capitalized. Shelby Johnson won the ball wide of the goal, dribbled across the face and shot far post beating the keeper! After the goal we buckled down on defense and managed the game until the time ran out. As the announcer counted down the final seconds the team rejoiced and stormed the field celebrating the win!

With the win against ONU we advance to the conference championship which will be held at Bernlohr Stadium at Capital University against Baldwin Wallace. The game will take place on Sunday November 9th with a kick off time of 2pm. Lets fill the stands and support our team as they fight for another championship!

GO CRUSADERS!