GLANDORF – Fans came for Build-A-Burger Night to the Titan Soccer Complex on Thursday night but were treated to the duo of Kaelyn Grothause and Makenna Siefker chewing up goals as Ottawa Glandorf defeated St. Marys 5-0.
“Makenna and Kaelyn tallied our goals tonight and both had great games” said Titan coach Michelle Maag. “I thought everyone around them created opportunities for those two to have scoring chances. It was a full team effort on the offensive side tonight.”
St. Marys keeper Leah Brackman turned away a set of Titan offerings through the first nearly 30 minutes of the contest, but found herself unable to stop a pair of shots with just outside of 11 minutes before halftime.
Working off a Grothause loft across the defense from the opposite corner, Siefker kicked home her 13th goal of the season to put her squad on top 1-0.
Sophomore midfielder Alaina Klass set up the next opportunity for Ottawa Glandorf as she corralled a loose ball and pummeled it deep downfield in front of a waiting Siefker who raced past three defenders and Brackman to make it 2-0 with 11:10 remaining.
“We weathered the storm in the first half, but had a little letdown after that first goal went in which allowed them to capitalize quickly with the second” said St. Marys coach Nick Wilson. “O-G is just so disciplined and deadly on their corners and crosses.”
Unfortunately for the visiting Roughriders, fighting back for their first win against the Titans since 2019 didn’t seem to be in the cards as they fell behind 3-0 in the early moments of the second half.
Starting from just inside St. Marys half of the field on a lead from teammate Delaney Duling, Grothause dribbled and weaved her way inside the box to unleash a runner into the net just past Brackman for her first of two goals on the night.
“We felt we were still in it come out of halftime, but that super early third goal was a back breaker. Coach Maag has another solid team on her hands, hats off to her and her team” finished Wilson.
Grothause struck for her third goal in the past two games since returning to the lineup earlier in the year nine minutes later to give her Titans a 4-0 advantage when she redirected a St. Marys deflection near the top of the box into the net.
Looking to stretch their lead, the Titans duo of Grothause and Siefker hooked up one final time with 17:07 on the stadium scoreboard. Grothause worked down the right sideline to draw a pair of Roughrider defenders her way before placing a perfect pass to an open Siefker who completed her third hat trick of the season with a ball high and past Leah Brackman.
“We’ve started to find a bit of a rhythm offensively, so I’m excited to see how that grows going forward” exclaimed Maag. “St. Marys made it difficult on us for long stretches of the game, but I liked how the girls were persistent in their efforts. Once we found the back of the net the first time, I thought we played a bit more freely.”
Next up for the Roughriders (5-5) who suffer their first Western Buckeye League setback of the season is a Tuesday evening varsity only contest with Van Wert at Roughrider Field at 7pm.
Ottawa Glandorf (7-1, 4-0) claims their 25th straight WBL victory and have outscored opponents during that span 171-2 with 23 wins coming via shutout. Saturday starting at 11:30 at Titan Stadium the blue and gold will tangle with Archbold.
“A tough opponent in Archbold is coming in on Saturday and will present different challenges for us so I’m excited to see how quick we can adapt to that on a short turnaround” finished Maag.
Scoring:
11:36 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
11:10 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
39:26 – Kaelyn Grothause (OG)
30:33 – Kaelyn Grothause (OG)
17:07 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
Assists:
2 – Kaelyn Grothause
1 – Delaney Duling
1 – Alaina Klass
Saves:
2 – Karsyn Erford (OG)
8 – Leah Brackman (SM)