GLANDORF – Ottawa Glandorf remained one of the two unbeatens in Western Buckeye League play Monday evening as they handed visiting St. Marys their first setback with a 2-0 victory.
Moments before the opening kick the field composition and footing for the game may have become an issue as a steady rain fell to the grass at the Titan Soccer Complex and caused some slipping and falling throughout the contest.
Working the ball up and down the pitch both teams found themselves in charge of segments of the first half but unable to secure the first goal thanks to keepers Emma Brinkman (OG), and Ella Jacobs (St. Marys) stellar play and defenses selling out on every pass by their opponent.
Jacobs for her part was a force in the first half as she turned away nearly half a dozen shots from the Titans to keep her side of the ledger clean. Ottawa Glandorf utilized a trio of corner kicks and point blank shots but found themselves rushing back on defense as the leg of the Roughrider junior flipped the field positioning with booming offerings one after another.
Tied coming out of the halftime break the two squads continued to make the most of their runs but still not able to hang a score on the board in a defensive tilt.
Ottawa Glandorf junior Myka Aldrich changed the Titans 0 to a 1 with 29:50 remaining in the game when she lifted a pass from Clara Beach over the head and off the hand of Jacobs to give the hosts the first lead of the evening and Aldrich her sixth goal in 2022.
Field positioning continued to be a story through the second half as the two blue and gold clad squads exchanged runs and shots with no damage done until just under 13 minutes to go when a Mackenzie Recker putback of a Jacobs saved shot laced the back of the net to put OG ahead 2-0.
Despite outscoring opponents 22-1 in their first four road trips of the season, St. Marys was unable to procure a goal on the rest of this evening and found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 decision when the clock struck zero.
#11 ranked St. Marys (7-2, 2-1) falls for the second straight outing to the Titans and will look to get back in the win column on Thursday evening when they host Van Wert in WBL play.
“I’m disappointed in the outcome but I am super proud of the effort all across the field” said St. Marys boss Nick Wilson. “We knew it would be a challenge to defense against all of their weapons. You just can’t give them multiple opportunities in front of their goal, they’ll make you pay eventually.”
#7 ranked Ottawa Glandorf (6-1-1) improves to 7-5-5 all-time vs the Roughriders and will host Bath on Thursday evening at 7pm in a game broadcast live on WZOQ Radio
“Tonight was a great win against a great St. Marys squad. I thought hustle plays won us the game, we did a better job of winning balls in the air in the second half and that helped us gain some momentum. Both of our goals were scored on hustle plays that were deflections or loose balls in the box which is necessary when you’re facing a great keeper like St. Marys has. Defensively our back line did a great job of limiting their offensive firepower” said OG coach Michelle Maag after the game.
Scoring:
Myka Aldrich (OG) 29:50
Mackenzie Recker (OG) 12:57
Assists:
Clara Beach (OG)
Makenna Siefker (OG)
Saves:
Emma Brinkman (OG) 6 saves
Ella Jacobs (SM) 11 saves