Nov. 1, 2009

Final Stats

2009 MAC Championship Bracket

ATHENS, Ohio - In the game that decided who would share the title of MAC regular season champions with Kent State, Miami came up short to Ohio University 1-0.

The opening period closely resembled that of the two teams’ last meeting only two weeks ago. It was a fight for each shot and each possession as the first half saw only one Miami shot off the stick of senior Katie Brightwell, and a total of four Ohio shots. Both teams went into halftime scoreless.

“Kelsey Dean was great for us today,” said Head Coach Jill Reeve of the defensive battle. “She was solid in the net and played very well.”

The second period was much of the same, as both teams came out aggressively, yet could not break the stalemate. The first goal, and what would be the only goal of the match, came at 58:51 when Ohio’s Marcy Dull, the team’s current leading scorer, capitalized on a penalty corner with the help of Katelyn Shelley and Brittany Zorn. Though the Bobcats would not be able to get another shot off, one was enough as Miami’s final four shots were unable to find the net leaving Ohio with the victory.

“We gave ourselves as many chances as we could to win, but we didn’t execute,” said Reeve of the loss. “As disappointing as this is, though, we learned a lot. We need to be more unified and play together, and I think we will take that forward to prepare us for bigger things.”

With the loss today, Miami drops to 7-3 in MAC play, while Ohio and Kent State, after defeating Missouri State earlier today, move forward to 8-2, making them MAC Co-Champions. Miami will be the No. 3 seed in the MAC tournament and will face the No. 6 seeded Missouri State this Thursday at Ball State in Muncie, Ind. at 1 p.m.