Meaney Nets Equalizer As Akron And Ohio Battle To A Thrilling 1-1 2OT Draw

Thursday, October 10

Akron, Ohio

7 PM

University of Akron

5-7-1, 2-2-1

Ohio

7-5-1, 2-2-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Ohio	0	1	0	0	1
Akron	0	1	0	0	1

Meaney Nets Equalizer As Akron And Ohio Battle To A Thrilling 1-1 2OT Draw

October 10 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Box Score | Box Score (PDF) | Video Highlights

AKRON, Ohio– In a thrilling Mid-American Conference contest between the Akron women's soccer team and Ohio, the Zips and Bobcats battled to a double-overtime 1-1 draw as freshman Aislinn Meaney (Ennis, Ireland) netted the equalizer in the 68' of the match on Thursday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

After Ohio broke a scoreless match in the 58 to gain a 1-0 lead, Meaney was able to strike gold at the 67:46 mark of the contest and squared the game up, 1-1. Sophomore Kayleigh Penton (Vermilion, Ohio) played a ball up the left side of the field to Meaney. With the ball at her feet and a defender in front of her, Meaney chipped a shot over the head of the Bobcat keeper who failed to punch the ball out of play and the shot landed inside the top corner of the goal. Meaney tallied her second goal of the season while Penton earned her first assist of the campaign and second of her career.

As the 90 minutes of regular time came to a close, the score remained tied and the Zips and Bobcats headed into extra time. Akron recorded three shots in the second overtime including one on goal while Ohio registered two shots and one on goal in total. Freshman Libby Harper (Hatfield, England) came up with a huge save in the first OT period with eight seconds left to deny the Bobcats of a potential golden goal.

On the night, Harper recorded seven saves which matched a career-best for the freshman goaltender. Harper made four saves in the first half, a single-game best, two saves in the second half, and one in extra time.

Offensively, the Zips tallied 12 shots in the match including three in the first half, five in the second, and three in the second OT stanza. Meaney, who scored the Zips goal, registered a game-high five shots and three shots on goal. Sophomore Carly Pcholinsky (South Park, Pa.) chipped in three shot attempts, while senior Ashley Amato (Pittsburgh, Pa.), junior Abigail Brown (Batavia, Ohio), and sophomores Hailey Clere (Oregon, Ohio) and Sydney Worthy (Groveport, Ohio) all added one shot, respectively.

Akron and Ohio went back and forth in the initial 45 minutes of play at FirstEnergy Stadium. The winner of the first half went to the Zips and Bobcats respective defenses as each team's defensive line made it difficult for the opposition to get a good look on the net.

After Ohio opened the contest with the first shot in the match, Akron rattled off three straight shots by Meaney (wide left, 12:05), Brown (saved, 16:57), and Carly Pcholinsky (high, 20:58).

From that point on, the Bobcats won the shot advantage in the final 25 minutes of play, 5-1.

Akron came out of the locker room looking to be aggressive in its offensive third and was able to push the ball forward, however, struggled to get an open look at the net until Meaney found the back of the net.

The Zips nearly scored what would have been game-winning score in the 87th and 88^thminutes of the match. Pcholinsky and Amato both registered shots on goal that were pulled in for saves.

Up next, Akron heads east for a cross-town rivalry showdown on Sunday, Oct. 13, in a rendition of the 2019-20 Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center Wagon Wheel Challenge at Dix Stadium beginning at 1 p.m.