KALIDA – Saturday afternoon the Kalida Wildcats advanced to the district tournament in boys soccer as they defeated visiting Spencerville 5-0 at Mark Czubik Field.
Keepers Parker Vorst (Kalida), and Chase Prine (Spencerville) faced an onslaught of opponent shots in the first nearly 19 minutes but found themselves able to keep the score knotted at 0-0.
Kalida senior and 1st team Putnam County League selection Jacob Siebeneck changed things however for the host Wildcats (10-5-3) as he raced a shot past Prine to give the hosts a 1-0 lead they would carry into the halftime break.
“In the first half, we struggled to score” said Kalida head coach Ryan Birkemeier. “We missed a few great opportunities and they were double teaming Braylon Smith everywhere he went.”
In the opening minutes of the second half the Wildcats added to their score as a quick strike from sophomore Cody Recker bent around the diving Bearcat keeper to run the advantage to 2-0. Kalida struck once again for a goal just under four minutes later, this time with a strike from junior Landon Verhoff with 31:58 to go.
“Spencerville was overloading one side on defense, so at halftime we decided to look at the big switch to create 1v1 situations on the opposite side and it paid dividends early” said Birkemeier. “The first goal in the second half was on a cross to Braylon and two defenders went with him which opened Cody Recker to place the ball in the goal.”
Working off of their ninth corner kick of the afternoon, the Wildcats punched in another to run the score to 4-0 as a high cross in front of the net was banged home in traffic by junior Logan Kerner.
Senior Bubba Smith added the final tally of the game for Kalida with 12:16 remaining to help the hosts to their sixth win in as many tournament meetings with the Bearcats.
“Today was more about overall team play, and we did that” remarked Birkemeier. “Five different goal scorers, and four different players contributed assists. Great overall team play, this is the type of play that can get teams to advance throughout the tournament.”
Spencerville sees their 2024 campaign come to an end with a record of 7-9-2 and will say goodbye to eight seniors. Kalida will return to action on their home field in the district semifinals on Wednesday night in the late game as they take on a Miller City squad they defeated earlier in the year 3-0.
“Our boys fought hard this whole game” said Spencerville head coach Josh Van Gorder. “They knew they were going to have to empty the tanks, and they did. I love these boys and I am proud to have been their coach.”
Scoring:
21:04 – Jacob Siebeneck (K)
35:51 – Cody Recker (K)
31:58 – Landon Verhoff (K)
19:05 – Logan Kerner (K)
12:16 – Bubba Smith (K)
Assists:
2 – Landon Verhoff (K)
1 – Jacob Siebeneck (K)
1 – Owen Grime (K)
1- Logan Kerner (K)