The Ashland University women’s soccer team found themselves in a hard-nosed battle against the University of Findlay Oilers this past Saturday, Oct. 28, as they left the game with a scoreless draw.
Just days earlier, the two teams took on one another at Findlay, with the game ending in a similar fashion, 1-1. When the two teams met at Ferguson Field, the Oilers put the pressure on the Eagles from start to finish in hopes of pulling off a critical upset.
In the first half of play, the Oilers and Eagles equaled one another in total shots, with four a piece.
Those eight shots would equal to just three ending up on goal, with two saves for Eagle goalkeeper Maddie Dolenga and one for Oiler goalkeeper Kennedy Slovak. Neither of the three shots was difficult for the goalkeepers to save.
When it came to the physicality and aggression, there was very little. The Eagles committed two fouls with the Oilers committing four.
With such a bland first half of play, the second half needed to be a turnaround for either team to be able to leave with more than just one point.
To begin the second half, the Oilers seemingly wanted the game more.
For the opening 20 minutes, the Oilers’ offense dominated as they recorded five shots with three ending up on goal. Those shots would be saved cleanly by Dolenga, but either way the pressure began to mount.
While the defense was being pounded, the Eagles’ midfielders struggled to maintain possession as the Oilers continued to ramp up the intensity.
After turnovers continued to plague the Eagles, the Oilers would record six more shots through the remaining 25 minutes while the Eagles had just one in the entire second half. Dolenga would finish the second 45 minutes with four saves, marking a total of six throughout the contest.
Even with such a large volume of shots being, a total of 15 from the Oilers, no goals would be found by either side as the bout ended with a 0-0 scoreline.
The Eagles move to 14-0-3 on the season and 10-0-3 in conference play as they prepare for the final game of the regular season. They will take on the Ohio Dominican Panthers on Tuesday, Oct. 31, with kickoff set for 6:30 P.M. at Ferguson Field.
