Ohio State sinks 2-1 to Michigan – The Lantern

The three-game winning streak of the Ohio State women's football team was broken against Michigan rival Sunday afternoon in a two-part history.

The Wolverines (7-2, 2-0) beat the Buckeyes (3-5-1, 1-1) 2-1 in a physical match that allowed them to win their fourth consecutive victory and their second consecutive victory against Ohio State.

After a scramble in the area that resulted in two injuries to Michigan (junior defensemen Alia Martin and Janice Joyner), junior striker Marissa Birzon scored the only goal of Ohio State with an empty goal, assisted by junior striker Redshirt, Meghan Kammerdeiner.

The Wolverines responded to the next minute, when junior midfielder Nicki Hernandez beat Ohio State Junior Bailey Bailey Kolinski on a penalty kick. Later, Michigan hit again when junior midfielder Sarah Stratigakis found the net in the 49th minute of play and the Buckeyes were unable to answer.

"We really wanted to go out and make a statement. I think both teams came out aggressively and wanted to win because it's a rivalry, "said Birzon. "We really have to start doing this last pass. We create opportunities, we just need to finish them. "

Ohio State's back line stopped the Michigan forwards in the first period, as junior defensemen Izzy Rodriguz and senior Marike Mousset and Haley Walker-Robinson made several blocks. maintained the pressure. The three players played the full 90 minutes and, with newcomers Aliyah El-Naggar and Kitty Jones-Black, allowed only 11 shots in Michigan.

"Our back line is very reliable and Michgian probably has the most mobility we've seen all year, "said head coach Lori Walker-Hock. "We handled the situation very well in the first period, and then our communication was not as strong in the second half. We allowed them to move to places we did not want to be, which put us out of shape. "

Offensively, the Buckeyes attempted 20 shots while Birzon, Kammerdeiner and second forward Kayla Fischer managed to break through the Michigan defense, but failed to finish.

"We had great opportunities and adjusted our press, which worked very well for us. Then, in the second half, we continued to give the ball, "Walker-Hock said. "We have to value the ball and we have not done a good job in that direction."

With a total of three yellow cards and multiple injuries, both teams played with rivalry in mind. Kammerdeiner received the team's eighth yellow card, while Michigan striker Daneille Wolfe and second-year defender Sydeny Shepchard scored the final two. In addition to the injuries suffered by Martin and Joyner, Kammerdeiner also took a right kick in the second half and had to be removed from the field.

"It will always be a tough match, especially with our opponents," Rodriguz said. "It was great to see how we competed with them because it's a great team. We can then use it, continue to work as a team and go through some of these difficult times. "

The Buckeyes travel to Wisconsin and Minnesota this week to continue playing Big Ten and start at 6pm. Friday against the badgers and 14h Sunday against the Golden Gophers.