A set-piece goal and a fifth clean sheet of the fall lifted Ashland University's women's soccer team to a 1-0 win at Ferguson Field on Thursday (Oct. 7) night against Ohio Dominican.
The Eagles remain at the top of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference at 7-1-2 overall and 6-0-1 in the league, while the Panthers are 1-6-2, 1-3-2.
"Every week, we write down our goals," said Ashland head coach
Cayleb Paulino. "The goals are to win the set-piece battle, and we did that tonight. We've got to keep a clean sheet, we did that tonight. So it's not our best soccer, I don't think, but you find ways to win, and two weeks ago, we didn't have the same result (1-1 tie at Ohio Dominican).
"The group is in a really good place. Every week, we set a goal to be 2-0. If you're 2-0 a lot of the weeks, you're going to have a really good chance of being at the top at the end."
Ashland has won four straight games, and is 6-0-1 in its last seven outings.
WHAT HAPPENED
- As soon as the game started, senior midfielder Emily Mark set a new Eagle program standard by playing in her 79th career game.
- "It's just being able to play with my team," Mark said. "It's just another game. Yeah, I have the record, but just being with my team, being able to come out and play, that's all I wanted to do. That's why I stayed another year, to play soccer."
- The Eagles broke the scoreless tie in the 32nd minute when, following a corner kick, senior defender Tori Baker corralled the ball in front of the Panther net and scored her third goal of the fall. Freshman forward/midfielder Avery Rosso earned the assist on the play.
- "Tori's played in a lot of big games for this group," Paulino said. "That's a kid that's potentially an All-American – makes big plays when you need them the most."
- That tally was more than enough for junior goalkeeper Bri Rogers and the AU defense to record another shutout. Rogers made three saves, and seniors Baker, Rylie Howman and Mary Grace Haney, and junior Grace Bodker, preserved the blanking on the back line.
- "We address it as a group," Paulino said. "It starts with the front, and we're going to try to eliminate things teams are really good at, and make them uncomfortable. And we do that every day in training."
- Ashland had a 15-11 shots advantage, and had all five of the contest's corner kicks.
UP NEXT
First place in the Great Midwest will be on the line on Saturday (Oct. 9) at 7:30 p.m. at Cedarville (6-3-1, 6-1-0).
"We're looking forward to that," Mark said.
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