DEFIANCE – Ottawa Glandorf scored the first goal of their Tuesday evening regional semifinal contest with Coldwater in the first minute of the game and added seven more on their way to an 8-0 victory at Fred Brown Stadium in Defiance.
Unlike their district finals contest on Saturday where the Titans struggled to tailor the field turf to their game, Ottawa Glandorf utilized the speed of the pitch to punch across the opening goal just :13 seconds in as a lead pass to Makenna Siefker set up the 23rd goal of the season for the freshman and gave her team a 1-0 advantage.
OG continued their fast scoring moments later against Coldwater senior keeper Macy Sheffer on a pass from Alexa Fortman to Clara Beach and eventually to Mackenzie Recker who punched it in with 36:13 to put the Titans on top 2-0.
Led by teammate Kaelyn Grothause, Siefker struck for her second goal of the night with 33:01 to go before the half to push OG up a trio of goals by firing a shot topside past the Cavalier keeper.
Junior midfielder Lily Haselman joined the Ottawa Glandorf first half scoring barrage with 31:41 left before the break by striking a bouncing ball into the top right side of the opponent goal for a 4-0 lead and her 15th goal of the season.
Leading 4-0 with 20:35 the Titans turned to Clara Beach who raced through the north side of the Defiance turf to deposit her 14th goal of the campaign and give her team a 5-0 lead they would carry into the break.
Early in the second half Beach who finished with a pair of assists in the contest scored her second goal of the game, a rocket with 37:20 showing on the scoreboard to initiate the running clock with the Titans ahead 6-0.
Working from just in front of the Cavalier goal box, the Ottawa Glandorf offense quickly found an opportunity for Bri Douglass, a sophomore forward who worked her way through the defense and booted a marker past Sheffer to make it 7-0 with 30:00 remaining.
The final tally of the game came just moments later when Kaelyn Grothause zipped in her seventh goal of the season at 28:15.
Coldwater sees their season come to and end with an 11-7-2 record and their first regional appearance since 2017 while the Titans (19-1) will advance to the regional finals on Saturday when they face Eastwood, a team that dispatched Liberty Benton 2-0 on Tuesday night.
Ottawa Glandorf first year head coach Michelle Maag after the game said of her team “I thought we got off to a great start tonight. Early goals allow us to build momentum and I thought we moved the ball well to create good scoring opportunities early. We played with good pace for the majority of the game and our defense performed well. I’m proud of the group tonight for their effort in getting this regional semi finals win. The focus is now on Eastwood and making sure we are well prepared for that matchup on Saturday.”