OTTAWA – Ottawa Glandorf notched their ninth shutout of the season Thursday night as they blanked visiting Bluffton in a non-league tilt 7-0.
While the Lady Titan parents were heating up the grill as part of their annual “Build Your Own Burger” fundraiser the team on the turf at Titan Stadium was sizzling on the offensive end behind junior Makenna Seifker.
Siefker, the reigning Western Buckeye League Player of the Year picked up her second hat trick of the season while helping the Titans to remain unbeaten against the Pirates all-time.
OG opened their scoring with 25 minutes remaining in the opening half of play working off of a corner kick from Bri Douglass to Siefker who headed it past Bluffton keeper Kynzie Ewing to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage.
With 17:50 left before the half the blue and gold upped their lead to 2-0 thanks to sophomore Delaney Duling who snatched a pass at the top of the box and floated a shot across the field into the net for her fourth marker of the season.
Minutes before the break the Titans kicked a pair of shots into the Pirate goal. First a corner kick proved to be again the weapon of choice as Mackenzie Recker’s 11th goal of the year came from a Delaney Duling cross to run the advantage to three.
Makenna Siefker’s second score of the first half made it a 4-0 lead into the stoppage for the hosts as a lead pass from Douglass found it’s way to her teammate and quickly into the back of the net with just :15 showing on the scoreboard.
Siefker wasted no time picking up her third goal in the second half as she blasted an offering to the bottom left corner to run her career total to 60 and the lead to 5-0 just :47 into the half.
“We had a good start in the second half and I thought we started to find some rhythm in the game as it went on. Our communication picked up in the second half which helped with our passing” said Titan head coach Michelle Maag.
Sneaking behind a pair of defenders off a Douglass corner kick with 33:47 left, Titan senior Myka Aldrich tied Siefker for the team lead in goals with her 14th with her right foot from just outside the goal line to run the advantage to 6-0.
Ottawa Glandorf’s final goal of the evening came with 26:53 remaining when freshman forward Emma Heringhaus notched her third straight game with a goal after racing through Pirate defenders and past back up goal keeper Elizabeth Hartzler for the score.
“Tonight was a good team win for us against a tough Bluffton team who plays hard. We had a lot of girls play really solid minutes for us” said Maag. “Seven goals and five different scorers is a bright spot as is getting back to defensive shutouts. We have some areas to improve in and we look forward to doing that over the back half of the season”.
Bluffton (7-3-1) sees their six game winning streak come to and end and will next be in action on Tuesday evening when they host Ada in Northwest Conference play.
OG (11-0) moves to 17-0-1 against Bluffton in the last 18 meetings and will return to the pitch on Monday evening seeking their 18th straight WBL victory when they play host to Van Wert.
Goals:
25:00 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
17:50 – Delaney Duling (OG)
3:45 – Mackenzie Recker (OG)
:15 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
39:13 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
33:47 – Myka Aldrich (OG)
26:53 – Emma Heringhaus (OG)
Assists:
3 – Bri Douglass (OG)
1 – Delaney Duling (OG)
1 – Maya Heringhaus (OG)
Saves:
2 – Karsyn Erford (OG)
5 – Kynzie Ewing/Elizabeth Hartzler (B)