Lacrosse takes two over weekend

The Ohio lacrosse team began this season with a string of losses, but this weekend, the Bobcats ran away with two straight wins.

Ohio (3-5) traveled to Villanova on Friday to play California-Berkley. The Golden Bears fell 14-6 to the Bobcats.

"We played really well," defender Megan Sanders said. "We knew it would be a tough game. The whole first half was back and forth scoring. But we worked on possessing the ball the week before in practice, and it helped us out a lot today."

California schools routinely are forced to travel long distances to play because there are not many lacrosse programs in the area.

The next game, during which Ohio faced Howard at the AstorTurf Field, resulted in a 13-4 victory for the Bobcats, launching a two-game winning streak.

"It was really cold and nasty out," Sanders said. "Although we won, we didn't play as we would have liked to. The coach was definitely not too happy with us today. We only did the minimum, and that's not something we should do. We were disappointed with our level of play."

After Howard started with a goal Ohio scored nine straight to take the victory. Becky Oxman and Lindsey Hart each scored four goals for the Bobcats.

Goalkeeper Jennifer Cassidy, although only a freshman, has stepped into a starting role for the Bobcats. Cassidy tended the net for both games this weekend. She recorded seven saves against Howard.

The Bobcats head into play at 3 p.m. Friday at Gannon.

- Tim Pappa