Dec. 13, 2008

Complete Season Recap

ATHENS, Ohio - The 2008 Ohio field hockey season was filled with ups and downs, but was highlighted by its third-straight appearance in the Mid-American Conference Tournament title game and matches against eight ranked opponents, including a win at No. 20 Kent State and overtime losses at No. 8 Virginia and No. 4 Michigan State. The Bobcats finished the season with the 18th-toughest schedule in the country, but still earned an 11-12 record, including wins over Big 10 foe Indiana and Atlantic 10 member Richmond. Ohio has had 10 or more wins in each of the last three seasons.

Below are some of Ohio's other accomplishments this season:

2008 All-MAC Bobcats
First Team: Rachelle Coetzee (3rd selection), Nikki Gnozzio (2nd selection), Jessie Martin (2nd selection)
Second Team: Estienne Coetzee (4th selection)

2008 All-Tournament Bobcats
Rachelle Coetzee (3rd selection), Marcy Dull (1st selection), Nikki Gnozzio (2nd selection)

2008 Academic All-MAC Bobcats (The most of any MAC school and the most ever in one season at Ohio)
Estienne Coetzee (3rd selection), Rachelle Coetzee (3rd selection), Marcy Dull (1st selection), Nikki Gnozzio (2nd selection), Jessie Martin (2nd selection)

2008 NFHCA Division I All-West Region Second Team
Rachelle Coetzee (2nd selection)

2008 NFHCA Division I Senior All-Star Game Participants
Rachelle Coetzee and Jessie Martin - The duo was the only players selected to play in the All-Star Game from the Mid-American Conference and were just the 12th and 13th Bobcats to ever play in the game.

Weekly Honors
Sept. 4: Rachelle Coetzee - MAC Female Scholar Athlete
Sept. 16: Jessie Martin - MAC Defensive Player of the Week
Sept. 30: Nikki Gnozzio - MAC Defensive Player of the Week
Sept. 30: Nikki Gnozzio - Womensfieldhockey.com Honor Roll
Nov. 4: Paige Herr - MAC Offensive Player of the Week
Nov. 4: Nikki Gnozzio - MAC Defensive Player of the Week

Other Highlights

- Ohio went 6-4 in MAC regular season play (third place), marking the fourth-straight season Ohio has been above .500 in the conference. The Bobcats are the only team to do so during that period of time. Ohio's 29-11 record in MAC play over the last four years is tops among MAC schools, two games better than Kent State's 27-13 four-year record.

- Senior Rachelle Coetzee moved into fourth place on Ohio's career shots list with 241.

- Senior Jessie Martin made her 250th-career save against Miami on Oct. 5. She also made a career-high 15 saves against Ohio State on Sept. 3, which tied for the 13th-most saves by one goalie in a Division I game this season. Her 75.7 save percentage was 17th in the nation, while her 1.57 goals against average was 20th in the country.

- Senior Nikki Gnozzio completed her career without missing a game, as she started all 88 games of her Bobcat career.

- Ohio earned its first win at Kent State since 2001, with a 1-0 win on Sept. 28.

- Ohio finished with an RPI of 27, which was second in the MAC and in the top third nationally.

- The Bobcats scored seven goals in a game, something Ohio hadn't done since a 9-0 win over Miami in 2001. The 'Cats beat Missouri State in the 2008 MAC quarterfinals Nov. 6, 7-0, which was the most goals in a MAC Tournament game ever for the 'Cats. Ohio's previous high was five in the 1998 tournament. The seven-goal victory was Ohio's largest margin of victory since that 2001 win over Miami as well.

- Head coach Neil Macmillan earned his 50th win as a head coach at Ohio in the Bobcats' 2-0 win over Miami Nov. 7 in the MAC semifinals. He became the second-fastest coach to ever do so at Ohio.