OTTAWA – Locked in a defensive struggle the Ottawa Glandorf Lady Titans found just enough offense to pull off their eighth straight win on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m so proud of the girls for grinding out a win today” said O-G head coach Michelle Maag. “Archbold made things tough on us and did a good job of closing down our shooting windows quickly.”
Nearing the half way point of the first 40 minutes of play, the Titans finally broke through for the games first marker. Senior Maya Heringhaus, fading to her right blasted an offering from outside the box past Archbold keeper Vivi Legato to put the home squad ahead 1-0.
“I thought Maya played really well today and got things going for us on that first goal” said Maag. “Alaina Klass and Megan Horstman both had really good games on the defensive side as well.”
Under a minute into the second half Ottawa Glandorf pushed their advantage to 2-0 as a second Heringhaus goal, this time from sophomore standout Emma finished off a Titan run.
While both teams raced up and down the Titan Stadium turf in the hot afternoon sun it was again the hosts who found themselves able to cash in for a score just over six minutes later. Senior Makenna Siefker, the all-time leading scorer at O-G added to her career total with 33:00 remaining as she slammed a shot past Legato for her 98th tally and a 3-0 lead.
“The second half was more of the style of soccer we wanted to play today” opined Maag. “We had more pace both with and without the ball which opened up more opportunities for us. The quick goal at the start of the half was a good example of that.”
Archbold (5-2) became just the third team to score on the Titans this season with 31:04 remaining in the afternoon after freshman Klaire Kern earned a penalty kick for being pulled down in the box. Kern bounced a ball past O-G netminder Karsyn Erford for her team leading fifth of the season to cut the deficit to 3-1 where it would ultimately remain.
Trips to Evergreen on Tuesday and Toledo Christian on Thursday make up the next week of action for NWOAL leading Archbold. Ottawa Glandorf (8-1) is back in Western Buckeye League play Tuesday evening when they host Bath before ending the week with a trip to Putnam County rival Kalida on Saturday.
“Going forward we will want to work on being more active off the ball as well as a consistent delivery on our set pieces” finished Maag. “We know we have another tough WBL competitor in Bath coming right around the corner, and we are looking forward to getting ready for that matchup.”
Scoring:
20:26 – Maya Heringhaus (OG)
39:17 – Emma Heringhaus (OG)
33:00 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
31:04 – Klaire Kern (A)
Assists:
1 – Megan Horstman (OG)
Saves:
1 – Karsyn Erford (OG)
8 – Vivi Legato (A)