BLUFFTON – Ottawa Glandorf remained perfect in their all-time series history with Bluffton as the Titans defeated the Pirates 2-1 at Steinmetz Field on Thursday night in a highly anticipated non-league clash.
Less than two minutes into the contest it was the host Pirates who struck first as a high arcing cross from Sami Scoles to junior Ella Armstrong was quickly redirected past Titan keeper Emma Brinkman to put her squad in the lead 1-0 with 38:35 showing on the scoreboard.
While the Titans at times were the aggressors and controlled much of the first half time of possession the star of the first half and much of the evening was Pirates senior keeper Julia Mehaffie.
Entering play on Thursday Mehaffie had turned away 18 shots through six games and was unchallenged in the Pirates previous win over NWC rival Crestview.
On this evening the Bluffton starter faced a barrage of first half shots from a multitude of Titans and showed she was up to the task as she snagged highlight after highlight type save, including a redirect that bounced off the post above and into her waiting arms to keep Ottawa Glandorf scoreless into the halftime break.
Trailing 1-0 over 10 minutes into the second half the Titans finally caught themselves a break as the aggressiveness of Mehaffie was deemed by the officials to have impeded her opponents opportunity to score and led to a penalty kick.
Ottawa Glandorf striker Myka Aldrich lined up the ensuing kick and raced a shot into the net with 28:55 left to tie the game at 1-1 on her fifth goal of the season.
PK goal by @AldrichMyka ties game at 1-1 with 28:55 to go in game pic.twitter.com/ohkTtqEM18
— Michael Hirn (@MichaelHirnPBP) September 9, 2022
Working with a tie score and finally able to break through the tight defensive lanes of the Pirates the Titans continued to control the time of possession and fight off any Bluffton advance until securing their own with 8:34 remaining in the game as a Bri Douglass pass found it’s way to the waiting foot of Clara Beach who turned a shot into a 2-1 lead just seconds later.
Ottawa Glandorf (5-1-1) ups their record all-time to 16-0-1 against Bluffton and has defeated the Pirates all ten times the schools have met in Bluffton. Next up for the Titans is a Monday evening Western Buckeye League battle of unbeatens slated to begin at 7pm and broadcast live on WZOQ Radio
Bluffton (6-1) falls for the first time this season but will be back in action on Saturday afternoon as they play host to Riverdale.
“Tonight was a gutsy come from behind win against a strong Bluffton squad. Sometimes the game doesn’t go exactly how we draw it up and that was the case today after we gave up the early goal. The girls showed a lot of fight and battled their way back into it. I thought we took some quality shots but the Bluffton keeper (Mehaffie) made some outstanding saves to keep us off the scoreboard for long stretches. I’m proud of our team for finding a way tonight and am looking forward to preparing for a big WBL match Monday with St. Marys ”
Goals:
Ella Armstrong (Bluffton) 38:35
Myka Aldrich (OG) 28:55
Clara Beach (OG) 8:34
Saves:
Emma Brinkman (OG) 1
Julia Mehaffie (Bluffton) 12
JV Score:
OG 3-1