A wide shot of the Ohio State women’s soccer team’s game against the Ashland Eagles on Sunday night at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes won 3-1. Photo credit: Natalie Hunt | Lantern Reporter

Disclaimer: Ohio State played Sunday’s game as a regular season game. Ashland played the game as an exhibition game and the loss does not affect the team’s record.

The season is still young, but the Ohio State women’s soccer team already has three wins under its belt.

Junior forward Jadin Bonham and junior midfielder Ava Greco helped the Buckeyes (3-0-0) to a 3-1 victory over the Ashland Eagles (0-1-0) on Sunday night at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

This game was the first-ever meeting between the Buckeyes and the Eagles and also Ohio State’s third meeting with a non-D1 opponent.

It didn’t take long for Ohio State to get on the scoreboard.

In the 6th minute, Bonham scored the first goal of her college career after an assist from Greco.

Just three minutes later, veteran forward Kaiyln Dudukovich scored a second goal for the Buckeyes on a rebound that bounced off an Eagles defender.

Bonham and Greco weren’t the only Ohio State freshmen to see significant playing time early on. Forward/midfielder Maliyah Morrison, defender/forward Anika Poremba and forward/attacker Victoria Miller were other freshmen who made an impression.

“Ava (Greco) continues to make progress; it’s great that she scored a goal and so is Jadin Bonham,” said head coach Lori Walker-Hock. “All the experience we’re giving our freshmen will pay off as the season goes on.”

Ashland struggled to attack Ohio State’s strong defense and had its first attacking chance in the 34th minute, but a relatively easy save by junior goalkeeper Molly Pritchard kept the score at 2-0.

The Buckeyes were extremely effective in the midfield, keeping the Eagles off the ball and maintaining overall possession while taking 14 shots on goal in the first half.

The Buckeyes defense remained calm in the face of the Eagles’ offensive pressure and only allowed one shot in the first half.

Ohio State allowed two more missed shots before halftime and went into halftime with a 2-0 lead against the Eagles.

Those two Buckeyes chances came from the same corner kick, but both shots – one from sophomore Ava Bramblett and the other from Adamson – deflected off Eagles goalkeeper Maddie Dolenga. Ashland maintained a high-pressure defense despite the Buckeyes’ dogged attacks.

The Eagles quickly countered, and junior forward Sydney Thomas fired the ball through the hands of junior goalkeeper Arden La-Rose in the 50th minute for a goal, the first goal conceded by the Buckeyes this season.

Ohio State was quick to laugh again when Greco scored a goal off a corner kick in the 53rd minute, officially putting the game out of reach for the Eagles.

Greco said that after scoring her first goal and assist in the competition, she felt even more motivated for the future.

“It just happened so fast, but in the moment it felt really great. I set such high expectations for myself and somehow I accomplished it,” Greco said. “It felt great, but I know I can give so much more.”

Ohio State remained aggressive in its defensive third, collecting 13 fouls while Ashland had just five. This is the third straight game in which the Buckeyes have committed at least three more fouls than their rival.

In terms of shooting statistics, the Buckeyes dominated the Eagles with a whopping 28 shots on goal and 10 targeted shots, while the Eagles only fired three and two shots respectively.

Moving forward, the Buckeyes will face the South Carolina Gamecocks next Thursday at 4 p.m. at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.