The Ohio Wesleyan Field Hockey team recorded a 2-0 shutout victory this Sunday over the Bethany College Bison. Junior forward Karson Stevenson netted her first collegiate goal to give the Bishops the lead, and sophomore midfielder Cheyenne Gibbons gave final numbers to the game.
It was a hard fought game from the beginning. The first 15 minutes were played in the middle of the field, with defenders getting the best of forwards and ball carriers.
The first scoring chance for either team came halfway through the first half, in the 17th minute. Gibbons received the ball in the goalie box and had two shots, both saved Bison junior goalkeeper Courtney Snyder.
Snyder’s efforts would be short lived, however. In the ensuing corner, Gibbons received a pass from sophomore forward Montana Knapp and passed it across the goal, where Stevenson tapped it in to put the Bishops in the lead.
Five minutes later, Bethany had their first clear scoring chance to score after a corner, as freshman goalie Jackie Feliciano had two big saves to keep the Bishop’s lead.
Ohio Wesleyan managed to keep the lead into halftime, despite playing with one less player for the last 3 minutes of the half, and sophomore midfielder Haley Savoie sitting out for a yellow card.
In the second half, the Bishops came out hard. Five minutes in, a shot by junior midfielder Venessa Menery was saved once again by the Bison goalie.
At the 20th minute mark, the Bishops began a flurry of attacks, which resulted in five corners in a row. Freshman defender Paige Haenig, Knapp, and Savoie all had shots saved by Snyder or cleared off the line by Bison defenders.
The Bishops kept pressuring Bethany College and on another corner on the 16th minute, Knapp hit a shot into the net, only to see it get called back by the referee. The score remained 1-0 for the Bishops.
With 10 minutes to go in the game, OWU finally got their second goal. Menerey beat two defenders down the right side and crossed it for Gibbons, who simply had to put it in the goal. The lead was now at a comfortable 2-0.
The Bishops had a couple more chances with Haenig, and kept possession to keep the Bethany College forwards under control. With 25 seconds left on the clock, freshman defender Addy Boyles had a clearance off the line to keep the Bishop shutout.
With the victory, the Ohio Wesleyan Field Hockey team is now 5-7. They face Wooster for a conference matchup at Selby Stadium on Thursday, October 9th.