GLANDORF – Ottawa Glandorf was looking for firepower on Wednesday night and found it in senior Makenna Siefker on the way to a 4-0 win over visiting Findlay.
Siefker, one of seven seniors for the Titans opened the scoring for her squad in the first half with 25:06 by burying a redirected offering behind Findlay keeper Ellyse Cunningham to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage.
“Tonight was a great bounce back game against a good Findlay program” said OG coach Michelle Maag after the game. “We had a handful of areas that we were focused on improving after our Anthony Wayne game on Saturday and I think we took small steps forward in those areas tonight”.
Just three minutes into the second half the blue and gold saw their lead double to 2-0 thanks again to Siefker who snagged an opponent pass and deposited an offering into the back of the net for the 84th time in her career.
Through a staunch and stingy Findlay defense the Titans continued to showcase their striking abilities from anywhere in the lineup. Senior defender Carlie Brinkman, a second team All-WBL selection last season punched in her third career goal and first of the season as she sent a rocket line drive past Cunningham for a 3-0 OG lead.
“We moved a lot of girls around tonight and played them in different positions as the game developed” opined Maag. “I thought the girls responded well to the challenges we offered them and that gives us more flexibility moving forward”.
Mike Aubry, the first year head coach for Findlay who took over a program that lost 13 seniors from last season found himself even more shorthanded with 23:47 remaining in the second half. Senior Daryna Yurchenko fell to the grass and was unable to return to the game after making a handful of tough defensive plays to keep the Titans deficit from growing.
Ottawa Glandorf added their final marker to the contest with just over 13 minutes remaining when sophomore Emma Heringhaus, a 10 goal scorer a season ago notched her first goal of the 2024 campaign to put OG ahead 4-0.
“Makenna had a couple of solid goals, Carlie had a great finish when she got her midfield minutes today, and Emma had a good hustle play goal. Distributing the scoring around is important as we move forward” said Maag.
Findlay drops to 1-2 on the young season and will next be back in action next Wednesday when they travel to Whitehouse to battle Anthony Wayne.
Freshman keeper Ellyse Cunningham turned away 11 shots on the evening while her counterpart Karsyn Erford stopped both Trojan offerings for the Titans.
OG (1-1) heads to Sylvania on Saturday afternoon for a 12:45pm varsity only contest with Southview for their next appearance on the pitch.
“We still have a lot of work to do to get where we want to be, but tonight was a step in the right direction and a good game for us to build off of” finished Maag.
Scoring:
25:06 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
37:00 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
17:00 – Carlie Brinkman (OG)
13:03 – Emma Heringhaus (OG)
Shots:
15 – OG
2 – Findlay
Saves:
11 – Ellyse Cunningham (F)
2 – Karsyn Erford (OG)
JV: 1-0 OG