Ohio State women’s soccer senior forward Tiffany Cameron broke the single season goal record in a 3 – 1 win over rival Michigan Thursday.
With two goals during the game, her season count rose to 14 total goals, breaking the previous Ohio State record of 13, set by Lara Dickenmann in 2004 and tied by Lisa Collison in 2005.
“I remember my junior year, I set a goal for myself. I wanted to score at least 20 goals my senior year. Kind of almost there,” Cameron said with a smile. “I’m really honored for this. I’m happy! I don’t know what to say, pretty overwhelmed.”
Cameron comes from a senior class with 54 wins, making them the most winning team in Ohio State women’s soccer history. Their class has never lost to Michigan.
“I’m just so happy for them. They’ve worked so hard,” OSU coach Lori Walker said of the senior class. “Winning is something that they work very hard for. It’s not something that comes easy.”
Cameron had a total of five shots on the goal for the Michigan game, two of which were goals. The first came on an assist from fellow senior forward Lauren Granberg and junior defender Megan Fuller. Cameron’s goal came about nine minutes after Michigan junior forward Nkem Ezurike scored the first goal of the game. The Buckeyes came right back and answered.
Cameron would score again from Fuller with 25 minutes left in the second period, giving her goal number 14. The crowd of 470 got into the game. Whether they knew that Cameron broke the record or not, they were happy to see Ohio State beating Michigan 3-1.
“The fans really helped us out too. They’re very energetic,” Cameron said. “I was laughing on the field. I was just enjoying myself out there.”
The Michigan game gives Cameron 38 shots on the goal on the year, as well as 14 goals. Every game that the Buckeyes have won has come with at least one goal from Cameron.
Michigan was aggressive throughout the entire game, outshooting the Buckeyes 21-15. However, freshman goalkeeper Jillian McVicker, who was subbed in for junior goalkeeper Rachel Middleman halfway through the first period, was able to have four saves on the day.
“Our objective was to keep pressure on the ball,” Walker said.
Michigan also had more corner kicks by a 10-4 margin. The rivalry between the team from up north and the Buckeyes has not died. There were a total of 24 fouls in the game, 10 from Michigan and 14 from Ohio State. Junior midfielder Danica Wu went down three times over a span of a few minutes in the second period from Michigan players, adding to the foul count.
Some of the Buckeye strengths for the game included quality positioning as well as ball movement. Seven different Buckeyes had a shot on the goal during the game, including freshman forward Marisa Wolf, who played 11 minutes. Wolf was injured during the Penn State game Sept. 27 but returned to play against Michigan.
Corner kicks, though the advantage was to Michigan, yielded a goal for Ohio State after sophomore defender Ashley Gruenbaum kicked it straight to junior midfielder Samantha Lewis in the 31st minute of the first period to score. Lewis had a head butt that went straight into the Michigan goal, sailing past senior goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer.
“It came at a great time,” Lewis said. “It was in a perfect spot. It was off Ashley’s service.”
Cameron will have a chance to extend her record this Sunday at home against Michigan State at 1 p.m.
“Our team has something special,” Cameron said. “We have fight in us.”
