After allowing a goal in the second minute, Wright State pieced together its best effort of the young season. That effort was not enough.
Alexis Milesky’s goal for Ohio University was the difference in a 1-0 win over WSU Friday afternoon.
Wright State is 0-3 for the first time since 2009.
Milesky scored less than two minutes into the match as WSU failed to control the ball on what WSU defender Allie Metzler described as a miscommunication.
“There were a couple of us who thought the other person was going to get it,” Metzler said. “But in that situation, it would have been better for all three of us to go after the ball.”
The goal in the second minute served as a wakeup call for Wright State head coach Pat Ferguson’s young squad. After falling behind, the Raiders fired six shots on target and forced OU goalkeeper Nicole Amari to give the Bobcats an outstanding performance.
“You can’t come out flat, you come out flat at this level, and you get exposed,” Ferguson said. “You have to be ready to play from the first minute. You take away the first five minutes of that game, we completely dominated.”
Despite the improved effort, it took a goalmouth block from freshman Ellie Ganz late in the first half who had just entered the match to keep OU’s advantage at one.
“I told the team at halftime that our key players weren’t being our key players,” Ferguson said. “In the first half, it was our freshman settling things down.”
Wright State had a number of chances to get the equalizer in the second half. WSU had six shots, three of which on goal.
“That second half, that is why soccer is an unfair game,” Metzler said. “You can have domination and have the play and it is all going your way but if you don’t finish, it doesn’t show in the scorebook and the score is what matters.”
Despite the 0-3 start, Ferguson and Metzler are confident that the squad is on the right track heading into Horizon League play later in the season.
“The first four games out of the bat are very tough,” Ferguson said. “We could be 2-2, could be 0-4 but it is only one segment of our schedule and that segment of the schedule is simply there to prepare us for conference play.”
