GLANDORF – Ottawa Glandorf opened their 2023 season on Wednesday night in successful fashion as they held off visiting state power Anthony Wayne 3-1.
“It was a good first game to get under our belt, Anthony Wayne is such a strong program who tested us in many different ways tonight” remarked Titan coach Michelle Maag.
OG kicked off the scoring in the first half with 22:35 remaining as senior Myka Aldrich snagged a ball near midfield and dribbled her way through the Lady Generals defense before blasting a shot from nearly 30 yards past keeper Addie Biel.
While Anthony Wayne was able to accrue a handful of corner kicks in the opening 40 minutes they were unable to tie the contest as the Titan defense and sophomore keeper Karsyn Erford kept their sheet clean to push OG into a 1-0 advantage at the break.
Ottawa Glandorf upped their lead to 2-0 with just under two minutes gone in the second half thanks to a marker from senior midfielder Mackenzie Recker who fired an offering through the defense and into the net with 38:09 to go.
Anthony Wayne’s lone goal of the evening cut the lead to 2-1 with 26:00 when a loft from just outside the corner of the box floated over the outstretched hands of Erford from the foot of Lila Simon.
OG in similar fashion to how they struck back quickly following an opponent goal last season did just that with under two minutes having elapsed as freshman Emma Heringhaus punched her first career goal into the net to put the Titans back on top by two at 3-1.
Ottawa Glandorf moves to 4-0-1 in their last five season openers while upping their home mark to 21-1-1 under Michelle Maag.
Karsyn Erford in her first start in goal for the Titans turned away a pair of shots while Anthony Wayne keeper Addie Beil stopped four shots in the loss.
Next up for Anthony Wayne (0-1) is a trip to Ashland on Saturday. OG (1-0) is also back in action on Saturday with a 5pm JV start (varsity to follow) in Findlay that can be heard on https://www.christiannetcast.com/listen/player.asp?station=zsportslive2
“Offensively we eventually started to find a bit of rhythm and got three goals from three different players in three different ways. We walk away from the game with a lot of areas we want to improve upon but today was a good first step with the season officially underway” opined Maag on her teams play.
Goals:
Myka Aldrich (OG) 22:35
Mackenzie Recker (OG) 38:09
Lila Simon (AW) 26:00
Emma Heringhaus 24:40
JV Score: 5-1 Anthony Wayne