ATHENS, OH - Toledo registered a 3-1 victory over No. 4 seed Ohio in the opening round of the 2009 Mid-American Conference Tournament on Sunday at Chessa Field.

With today's triumph, the Rockets (11-6-3) advance to the league semifinals for the fourth-consecutive season on Friday, Nov. 6 at 11:00 a.m. UT will face top-seed Central Michigan after the regular-season champs downed No. 8 seed Western Michigan by a 1-0 margin in Mount Pleasant. Earlier this season, UT and CMU played to a 0-0 double-overtime draw, and is unbeaten in the last eight meetings (3-0-5) between the two schools.

In other MAC Tournament action, No. 2 seed Eastern Michigan blanked No. 7 seed Kent State, 3-0, and No. 6 seed Miami upset No. 3 seed Ohio, 2-0.

"This is a great victory," Toledo Head Coach Brad Evans said. "I thought our kids played extremely hard, and they were very mentally focused. I also thought our finishing was excellent, as we tallied three goals against a quality opponent. We are very excited about keeping our season alive and playing next weekend."

The host Bobcats (9-8-2) controlled the action through the first few minutes of play, keeping Toledo on its heels. Ohio looked to have put the opening goal on the scoreboard in the 11th minute when Toye Famodu headed in a cross, but the linesman ruled an offside had occurred on the play and the goal was taken away.

The three-time defending MAC Tournament champions quickly responded and took back the majority of the possession for the next few minutes. UT managed to sneak one past Ohio early in the 27th minute when sophomore Kristen Lynn knocked a shot just past the reach of the Bobcat keeper Jess MacLean on a cross from senior Molly Cornwell. The tally was the first on the year for Lynn and helped catapult the Rockets to a 1-0 lead at the intermission.

Just over five minutes into the second stanza, UT doubled its lead off a free kick. They took advantage of a well struck corner kick with sophomore Jaimie Morsillo punching a quick strike into the left corner of the net to make it 2-0. Cornwell was again credited with the assist and now has nine on the season, third-most in school history in a single season.

Ohio's Famodu came within an eyelash of putting a score on the board five minutes later when its attackers drew UT sophomore goalie Vicki Traven out of the net. Famodu took a pass that had deflected off a Toledo player and sent a shot that hit off the post. Fortunately for the Midnight Blue and Gold, the Rockets were able to respond and clear the ball out of danger.

Ohio continued to apply pressure on Toledo's defense for the next several minutes and had opportunities, but UT was able to withstand each of the attempts. The Bobcats pressure paid finally off nearly midway through the 68th minute when Sarah Brown took a free kick from Kelsey Pichel that bounced off a pair of Toledo defenders and knocked it in to the left corner of the net from six yards out.

Ohio's Rachel Goulding nearly tied the game a few minutes later when she got behind Toledo's defense for a one-on-one with the Rockets' Traven, but her shot was saved by the 2008 MAC Freshman of the Year and the score remained the same.

Toledo then put the match away in the 80th minute when senior Ali Leak was able to outrun Ohio's defense, shooting one just past MacLean and into the left side of the net for her team-best sixth tally of the season.

"Ohio was a tough opponent, and we knew we had to match their intensity," Lynn said. "I thought we did that and played real strong for all 90 minutes. We definitely have something to prove, because we want to become the first MAC school to ever win four-consecutive championships."    

Cornwell paced the attack with three shots, while Leak and Morsillo had two shots each in helping the Rockets remain unbeaten in their last 10 MAC tourney matches (8-0-2).

Between the posts, Traven was also outstanding once again and finished with five saves.  

TOLEDO 3, Ohio 1

UT: K. Lynn (M. Cornwell), 26:07
UT: J. Morsillo (M. Cornwell), 50:03
OHIO: S. Brown (K. Pichel), 67:21
UT: A. Leak (Unassisted), 79:38

SHOTS: UT 11, Ohio 11
CORNER KICKS: UT 3, Ohio 3
SAVES: UT 5, Ohio 2
FOULS: UT 4, Ohio 13