The Ohio ice hockey club dropped its first two games of the season this weekend at Michigan-Dearborn, 5-3 and 3-2.

Brandon Alviano, one of Ohio's tri-captains, blamed the first loss to mental errors and the inevitable first game jitters of new players. Ryan Schelein scored the first goal, Alviano the second and Marcus Marazon the third.

Alviano also said good things came out of the game as well, because the team played hard in all aspects of the game.

The second game was a hard-fought battle that the Wolves won in overtime, 3-2. Brad Harte and Tobias Keyes scored for Ohio.

"We fought a lot harder (in the second game)," Alviano said. "A lot of veterans were logging a lot of ice time to keep the game close but we ran out of legs at the end."

The team's main problem is its lack of scoring, Alviano said. With only four experienced defenders returning, the Bobcats plan to rely on offense this season.

"We only scored five goals in two games," Alviano said. "When that happens you're not going to win any games."

While the pair of losses are a disheartening way to begin a season, they can be easily overlooked. Good signs coming out of the weekend were the plays and saves that scored and stopped goals. "Guys played hard; guys gave the effort," Alviano said. "They gave a good physical effort. This was only the first two games of the year. If it was the last one, we'd have a serious problem."

Field hockey stays at .500

Seven minutes and 52 seconds into overtime Friday, Miami's Chris Stoll netted the game-winning shot to drop the Ohio field hockey team 3-2 in a crucial Mid-American Conference battle in Oxford.

Ohio won at Louisville 3-2 Saturday to split the weekend series.

Led by the nation's leading scorer, Amanda Sokolow, who had three points Friday, Miami (7-4 overall, 2-0 MAC) took 23 shots on goal compared to Ohio's 15. The Bobcats (5-5, 2-2) received goals from forwards Sandy Wood and Summer Hardman.

Against Louisville (0-10, 0-3), freshman midfielder Ali Johnstone put Ohio on top early with a goal, 26 minutes and 37 seconds into the game. After the Cardinals tied the game at one, senior forward Marianne Beshara scored to regain the lead for the Bobcats. But Louisville answered with a score of its own with 21:43 remaining in the second half. With her second goal of the weekend, Wood won the game with 4:33 left in regulation.

Soccer splits

The Ohio soccer team took one step forward and one step back over the weekend. The team defeated Toledo 1-0 Friday and lost 1-0 to Eastern Michigan yesterday. The matches brought Ohio's overall record to 8-4, and 3-1 in the Mid-American Conference.

On Friday, the Bobcats got their sixth shutout of the year from goalie Vanessa Dennis and a goal from forward Meghan McCoy.

On Sunday, Eastern Michigan got a late goal to top the Bobcats. Logan said the team was disappointed with its performance against Eastern Michigan.

- Jon Greenberg (ice hockey), Paul Warner (field hockey) and Jay Cohen (soccer) contributed to the story.