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AU OSU women's soccer exhibition action shot
1
Ashland ASH (0-1-0, 0-0-0)
3
Winner Ohio State OSU (3-0-0, 0-0-0)
Ashland ASH
(0-1-0, 0-0-0)
1
Final
3
Ohio State OSU
(3-0-0, 0-0-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Ashland ASH 0 1 1
Ohio State OSU 2 1 3

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | Dusty Sloan, Ashland University Director of Athletic Communications

No. 9 Eagle Women Lose Exhibition At Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio – On Sunday (Aug. 25) night, in a game which counted for The Ohio State University and was an exhibition for Ashland University, the No. 9-ranked Eagle women's soccer team lost to the Buckeyes, 3-1, at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
 
OSU improves to 3-0 on the young season, while AU is 11 days away from its official season-opener.
 
"For us, we started out well, built a lot of confidence, then something went wrong, and we gave up a goal," said Ashland head coach Cayleb Paulino. "It was five minutes when we were a deer in the headlights, and then we settled back in.
 
"We challenged them at halftime. Individual players needed to win some duels. We were shying away from challenges. I thought, in the second half, we competed and played for each other, and it showed."
 
The Eagles earned a corner kick in the game's first minute, but the game's first shot – and goal – came from the Buckeyes. Jadin Bonham's initial goal of the fall in the sixth minute, assisted by Ava Greco (first of the season), put OSU ahead 1-0.
 
In the ninth minute, Ohio State's leading scorer, Kailyn Dudukovich, potted her fifth goal of the young campaign to make it a 2-0 contest. An Eagle turnover in the 12th minute nearly resulted in a third goal, but a crossbar, a blocked shot and a wide shot kept it a two-goal game.
 
The score was 2-0 going into half, but Ashland posted its first goal of the night in the 50th minute when junior forward Sydney Thomas scored her first as an Eagle, unassisted, in front of the Buckeye net.
 
It was the first goal allowed by OSU this season – after the Buckeyes shut out both NCAA Division I Duke and Milwaukee at home to start 2024.
 
"We made some adjustments at halftime," Paulino said. "We put her in a position to be successful, and that's why she's here. She gives us another element of scoring and creating chances."
 
However, in the 53rd minute, Ohio State countered and got its two-goal lead back at 3-1, on Greco's first tally of the season.
 
DOLENGA STOOD ON HER HEAD IN THE SECOND HALF…AND THE REST OF THE STORY
  • Senior goalkeeper Maddie Dolenga played the second half, and ended with five saves and a goal yielded. In the first 45 minutes, fifth-year keeper Mackenzie Simon made a pair of stops and allowed two goals.
  • "Maddie made some huge saves, the backs really bought in to blocking shots," Paulino noted. "The second-half mentality was compete and be better than what we did in the first half, and I think we built some momentum."
  • The Buckeyes out-shot AU by a 28-3 count, and had a 6-2 lead in corner kicks.
  • As per usual, 23 different Eagles saw action on Sunday night.
  • Sunday's game marked the first time the Buckeyes have faced an NCAA Division II opponent since the program began in 1993. OSU women's soccer played a pair of D-III sides in that inaugural campaign.
  • A tailgate for more than 100 Eagle faithful took place in the parking lot outside of the stadium prior to Sunday's game.
  • The AU-OSU game started with a temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Sunday marked Ohio State's Senior Night.
UP NEXT
The official start of the 2024 season, with a trip to No. 7 Grand Valley State on Sept. 5 at 3 p.m. kicking off a three-game Michigan road swing.
 
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