Maybe the NCAA should look into on-the-field instant replay.
Ohio senior Andrea Voros scored a questionable goal 15:05 into the contest to lead the Bobcats (6-7) to a 1-0 victory over Northwestern (4-9, 0-3 Big Ten) Sunday in Athens, Ohio.
Voros’ shot seemed to deflect off her teammate’s foot before trickling past NU goalkeeper Kendra Mesa.
“It went off her foot and it was just a really bad break,” senior midfielder Stacy Spenser said. “It was horrible for (Mesa) because it was out of her control.”
According to NCAA rules, when an offensive player makes contact with the ball with her foot or any other body part and “gains benefit,” play immediately stops.
But NU didn’t feel like it had the right to complain.
“That’s all just part of the game,” Spenser said. “If we had completely dominated them, I would have felt more cheated. But it was an evenly matched game.”
Ohio outshot NU 8-5 and also had six penalty corners against only three.
It was a fitting conclusion to a hard-luck weekend for NU, which lost a match
3-0 to Ohio State (5-7, 1-2) on Friday.
In that game, the Cats managed only three shots while conceding 16 shots to the Buckeyes. But NU had a good handle on the match, winning the ball-possession battle.
“For the most part, I felt that we had control of the game against Ohio State,” senior back Juli Fomenko said. “The stats are just misleading because we failed to generate shots.”
But when the weekend was over, it was hard to ignore a few numbers. For instance: zero – the number of goals the Cats scored.
“We’re pretty frustrated right now (with the lack of goals),” Spenser said. “We’re just having trouble getting numbers on the defense and generating quality chances.”
As if being in an offensive drought wasn’t hard enough to stomach for NU, the calls also appeared to be piling up against it all weekend.
Opposing teams had 17 corners while the Cats had eight.
“I don’t mean to blame things on the referee,” Fomenko said. “But they were really quick to blow the whistle against us and it’s hard on some of the younger players.”
Another number that glares at NU is 3 – the number of goals the Buckeyes scored off penalties.
“We played them evenly,” Spenser said. “But they just had a very powerful corner hitter and we couldn’t stop her.”
Ohio State midfielder Mariana Solorzano scored both of her goals off corners, and forward Vanessa Imordino converted a penalty shot to ice the Cats.
But Spenser thinks the team should take solace in what NU coach Marisa Didio told them after the losses.
“She told us not to get down on ourselves,” Spenser said. “And that we are improving each game. A lot of it is luck and a lot of it isn’t.”
Unfortunately for the Cats, the final score is what most people care about.
“I know that everyone just looks for wins,” Fomenko said. “But I felt and knew that we had control over both games and yet we came away with no wins. We’ve all worked hard and we’re proud of the progress we’ve made, but without the win it’s just terribly frustrating.”