OTTAWA – Western Buckeye League rivals Bath and Ottawa Glandorf will meet on Saturday afternoon in Ottawa after each secured a one goal district semifinals victory on Wednesday night at Titan Stadium.
In game one of the doubleheader, the Titans showed perhaps a little bit of rust from their two week layoff, a win over Defiance 5-0 on October 8th.
“Our first half wasn’t quite the pace or style we were looking to play” said O-G fourth year head coach Michelle Maag of her teams 1-0 victory over Bryan. “It was most definitely a grind it out type of game today.”
Facing Bryan keeper Mylie Vollmer, a junior who was named as Co-Goalkeeper of the Year in the NWOAL, the Titans struggled to find their usual shots on their home field.
Turned away all night, the Ottawa Glandorf offense finally broke through with 9:26 to go in the game when senior Makenna Siefker battered a redirected ball through heavy traffic in front of the net to make the score 1-0.
“We were in the attack for long stretches of the game but Bryan’s defense was well organized and made things difficult for us” said Maag. “Bryan’s keeper (Vollmer) had a heck of a game.”
Sophomore keeper Libbie Niese, making her second consecutive start in goal for the Titans turned away all three shots she faced on the evening while her counterpart fenced 14 of the 15 offered on net by O-G.
Bryan sees their season reach it’s conclusion at 9-7-1 while Ottawa Glandorf improves to 16-2 and claims their spot in the finals on Saturday at Titan Stadium.
“Mylie (Bockrath) did a good job in the midfield for us today being disruptive on the defensive side of the ball” said Maag. “I’m proud of the girls for yet again fighting to the finish, believing in each other, and finding a way to win. We have a talented opponent in Bath up next and our focus is forward as we look to get ready for that game.”
Scoring:
9:26 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
Saves:
3 – Libbie Niese (OG)
14 – Mylie Vollmer (B)
Game two of the night couldn’t be finished in just the usual 80 minutes and required an extra period to be concluded to see who would meet the Titans on Saturday.
Bath senior Faith Clark lifted a shot from 36-yards away with 3:41 remaining in the first 15:00 overtime period just past the outstretched hands of St. Marys keeper Leah Brackman to give the Wildcats a 3-2 victory.
“I absolutely love coaching these girls but it just devastates me to see their hearts broken by the outcome, especially the seniors” said St. Marys head coach Nick Wilson. “These girls will be successful in whatever they tackle in the future.
St. Marys (8-11) blitzed ahead early in their final outing of the season as a left footed 25-yard boot from Emma Freewalt arched past Bath’s keeper to give the Riders a 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately for the Roughriders their time in the lead would be short-lived thanks to Wildcat striker Alycen Staumbaugh’s roll through the legs of Brackman just over three minutes later to square the score at 1-1.
Replacing injured teammate Claire Turner who was injured on a foul by Bath, junior Sophia Menker notched her 11th goal of 2024 with a 30-yard free kick 17:36 before the half to again put her team in front.
Bath’s tying goal late in the first half came from a corner kick follow up by Addi Rex just outside the top of the box that careened off of the top corner post and into the net with 10:26 to go.
Bath (10-6-3) moves on to take on the Titans Saturday looking for a bit of payback from the regular season as Ottawa Glandorf downed the Wildcats 2-0 on September 17th.
“The girls left it all out on the field tonight” said Wilson. “We battled through injuries to multiple key personnel and continued to be competitive, that makes me proud.”
Scoring:
37:24 – Emma Freewalt (SM)
34:15 – Alycen Staumbaugh (B)
17:36 – Sophia Menker (SM)
10:26 – Addi Rex (B)
3:37 – Faith Clark (B)