GLANDORF – State ranked Bath defeated Ottawa Glandorf on Monday night in Glandorf 3-2 to take sole possession of the Western Buckeye League lead led by a pair of goals and an assist from All-Ohio senior Chandler Clark.
Though both teams found themselves with long stretches of offense in the first half, it was the visiting Wildcats who found the scoreboard first as a crossing shot from Clark was redirected into the Titan goal by teammate Tatum Walsh for a 1-0 advantage with 16:43 to go before the halftime break.
Bath added their second goal of the game and the eighth of the season for the reigning WBL Player of the Year Clark as she buried a shot from well beyond the left corner of the box over the outstretched hands of Ottawa Glandorf keeper Abby Warnecke with 10:18 remaining to snag a 2-0 lead.
Ottawa Glandorf’s biggest chance to cut into the Wildcats advantage came with 8:00 left in the first half on a foul in the box but was unsuccessful as senior Kelsey Erford was unable to connect on a follow up kick that sailed over the Bath goal.
Just over four minutes into the second half the Titans were finally able to trim the visitors lead to just a goal at 2-1 when Clara Beach notched her fifth goal of the year sending a redirected ball from teammate Myka Aldrich screaming into the back of the Wildcat net with 35:12 left.
Working off of their fourth corner kick of the evening Bath pushed the score out to 3-1 on a high crosser that was headed through the defense by Chandler Clark for her ninth marker of the season with 20:40 showing on the stadium scoreboard.
Working through the midfield the Titans got themselves to 3-2 with 6:56 left on a free kick to the top left corner of the of the goal for the sixth goal of the season from sophomore Alexa Fortman but were unable to climb any closer as the Wildcats watched time tick off the clock on their way to victory.
Though the teams each took four corner kicks on the night the visitors outshot their hosts overall 9-8.
Ottawa Glandorf goal keeper Abby Warnecke stopped six shots on the evening including a diving highlight reel save in the first half to keep her team down just 2-0 while Bath keeper Madelyn Renner turned away seven shots in the game.
Bath who moved up from 7th to 5th in the newly released OSSCA poll this week moves to 7-0 overall and remains unbeaten in WBL play at 3-0 with the victory and host Celina on Thursday evening while Ottawa Glandorf (5-1-1, 1-1-1) suffers their first loss of the season and will travel Thursday night as they head to Van Wert to battle the Cougars.
The game was the 14th all-time meeting between the two programs and with the victory the Wildcats have now won four straight in the matchup and hold a slight series lead at 6-5-3.
Goals:
1st half:
16:43 – Tatum Walsh (Ast C. Clark) Bath
10:18 – Chandler Clark Bath
2nd half:
35:12 – Clara Beach OG
20:40 – Chandler Clark Bath
6:56 – Alexa Fortman OG