The Ohio State women's soccer team is off to a 3-2-2 start to the season after losing a heartbreaker to Harvard 1-0 at the Harvard Invitational Sept. 15 at Ohiri Field in Cambridge, Mass. Harvard scored at the 82:42 mark of the game when Crimson freshman Allison Keeley knocked in a redirected pass from sophomore midfielder Megan Merritt.
Two days later, the Buckeyes returned to form with a 2-1 victory against Northeastern. OSU took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute when senior midfielder Danielle Dietrich scored her second goal of the season on a pass from freshman forward Caitlin Colfer. In the second half Northeastern was able to tie the contest in the 50th minute, but the Buckeyes struck back when freshman forward Lisa Collison, who leads the teams in goals, scored the winning goal.
"This past weekend was a tough one," coach Lori Walker said. "We had to go through some changes and we needed some new players to step their game up and they were able to do so. We are a very young team and we are going through what we call a rebuilding year. We hope to get better as each game passes. That is our only way to help us succeed."
Walker said this has been one of her most inconsistent teams. Last year the Buckeyes finished 19-4-3, won the Big Ten championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. This year's squad is currently unranked, but Walker said there are days it could be.
The Buckeyes started the season with two wins; a 2-1 victory against Kent State on Aug. 26 and a 3-0 shutout of Xavier two days later.
From there, the Buckeyes went to the Nike Dayton Flyer Invitational on Sept. 2, where the Buckeyes overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie the Cincinnati Bearcats in double overtime. However, the Buckeyes lost their second game in the tournament 1-0 to Furman Sept. 4 and tied Kentucky a week later, part of a four-game winless streak.
"We are very inconsistent at times because of us being such a young team," co-captain Emily Francis said. "This might be a year of learning for us, but I'd rather have a year of learning followed by a great season next year."
This weekend the Buckeyes will be heading north to Ann Arbor to face Michigan at 7:30 p.m. Friday. From there the team will head to East Lansing to face Michigan State at noon Sunday.
Collison, a native of Niagara Falls, Ont., said she is looking forward to the trip to Michigan and the start of the Big Ten season.
"So far this season has been a great experience, and I can't wait to get the Big Ten season started," Collison said. "I'm really pumped about playing Michigan. A lot of my family and friends are going to be there to watch us play."
Penn State is the Big Ten favorite yet again and comes to Columbus to face the Buckeyes Oct. 14 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes lost to Penn State in State College 3-0 last season but beat the Nittany Lions 2-0 in the Big Ten championship game in Columbus.
The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions will try to break the national record for attendance at a women's college soccer game. The record was set Sept. 26, 2003, when 6,527 fans attended the game between North Carolina and Navy in Annapolis, Md.
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