Ohio gives Niagara an attraction to see, 19-5 win

by Tim Pappa
Staff Writer

Seeing how the Niagara Purple Eagles were guests in Athens for the day, the Ohio lacrosse team wanted to make sure they felt at home.

The Bobcats let their offensive waters flow and flow and flow.

Ohio (7-6) added a sixth game to its ongoing winning streak and sent the Purple Eagles packing with a 19-5 win.

The Bobcats ripped 39 shots on Niagara's goaltender, Kara Grooms, adding and subtracting percentages until ending with an average of around 50 percent at the end of both halves.

"You can't take anything away from the Niagara goalkeeper," coach Anne Moelk said. "She is up there in the rankings. We just played our style of lacrosse and focused on what needed to be done. Today we were just the better athletes. We were in better shape and faster."

Niagara (4-9) came into the game following a 10-6 win against Canisius. The Bobcats kept the Purple Eagles leading goal scorer, Megan McNerney, from scoring any goals in the game.

"They didn't really know what to do when we started double-teaming them," midfielder Becky Oxman said. "We broke them down both offensively and defensively."

Niagara began the game with the first goal at 27:46 off a shot from midfielder Laurie Haefner, who recorded three goals in the game. After the Purple Eagles found the net again at 19:20, Ohio opened the floodgates and went on to score 10 consecutive times to end the first half. The Bobcats led 12-2 at the intermission.

The second half began much in the way the first ended, with the Bobcats impounding two quick goals in the first couple of minutes.

A majority of the game was spent in the Eagles defensive zone after the Bobcats repeatedly cut through each Niagara line of defense to score again.

"We definitely clicked today," Oxman said. "We took hold of the little things and did them right. We played as a team, which we can attribute to most of our wins."

Midfielder Lindsey Hart, who led the game in scoring with four goals and five assists for nine points, said the Ohio's goal is to play hard, regardless of the outcome.

"Maybe Niagara wasn't one of the more difficult teams we have played," Hart said. "But we still tried to be positive coming out here. We have to be ready to win. If you don't play well then a win does not really matter. We don't treat any team as a pushover."

Attacker Alyssa Trocher hit the net most frequently for Ohio against Niagara, nailing five goals. Hart scored four goals.

Midfielder Ashley Bauer and attacker Melissa Menna each recorded two goals in the win. Menna is the leading freshmen scorer for the Bobcats, tallying 27 points thus far.

Niagara is currently in its second year as a varsity program, one year behind Ohio.

"It makes me really happy to see the progression of our program," Moelk said. "Just by watching Niagara we could see how we use to be. Seeing how much success we've had and then comparing it to another team in a similar situation that has not done as well makes us feel good."