TicketsAug. 23, 2009
ATHENS, Ohio - Emily Hebbeler (Park Hills, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) scored her second goal in as many games leading the University of Cincinnati women's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Ohio University on Sunday.
"Today we did a great job establishing our presence from the start," said head coach Michelle Salmon. "Emily (Hebbeler) had another fantastic goal and is doing a great job finding space and capitalizing on her chances. I am pleased with the way we responded today. As the season progresses we will continue to get better."
The match looked like it would be a seesaw battle in the opening minutes as neither side managed to establish possession or put the pressure on the other side. The Bearcats took advantage of an athletic defensive unit that was able to slow Ohio's offense and put the Green and White on the defensive. In the 22nd minute the Bearcats got the ball deep in the Ohio box and Logan Ballinger (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton) fed Hebbeler who knocked a shot just past the finger tips of the `Cats' goalkeeper and into the top left corner of the net.
Cincinnati notched its second goal of the day just over five minutes later, taking advantage of an Ohio foul inside the box. Melissa Bigg (Limehouse, Ont./Acton) then converted the penalty kick to give the Bearcats the 2-0 advantage. Ohio was unable to get the pressure it needed and Cincinnati took that advantage into the half.
The Bearcats held off Ohio in the second half and out-shot the Bobcats, 7-4. UC finished the game with an 18-6 shot advantage and took attempted six corner kicks to the Bobcats four. Rachel Barnette (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh) earned her first win in goal and had two saves for UC.
UC travels to Boston next to take on Northeastern on Sunday, Aug. 30 at 1 p.m.