On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats took on the number one ranked team in the nation, the Olentangy Liberty Patriots.

The Patriots started off the game strong scoring a goal about nine minutes into the first half off of a defensive miscommunication. The Liberty forward got the ball alone in the box off a botched clear and easily buried his chance.

From that moment on, the Wildcats turned up their intensity and dominated most of the rest of the first half, although not able to find the back of the net.

In the second half, the physicality of the game picked up and the referee called numerous fouls on both sides of the ball.

The Wildcats had to play most of the second half a man down after sophomore defensive stalwart Nolan Bartolone was given a red card for a tackle near the top of the Wildcats' goalie box. Following this call, the Soccer Cats knew they had to give maximum effort to make up for their lost man, and you saw great play out of guys like Kyle Healy, who was hustling up and down the field all game long.

The Patriots were able to ice the game with an absolutely stunning goal from about 35 yards out with 18 minutes left and the Cats were unable to answer.

The Wildcats return to action on Saturday, facing Dublin Jerome on the road.