ST. MARYS – Ottawa Glandorf took a punch from St. Marys on Thursday night at Roughrider Field but landed a few of their own to run their conference winning streak to 16 games and knock the Riders from the ranks of the unbeatens with a 5-1 victory.
“St Marys is a quality opponent so they showed us some things we need to be better at, but a win is a win in the always tough WBL” said Titan boss Michelle Maag.
Junior forward Makenna Siefker struck first to give the visitors a 1-0 lead with 32:27 as she slipped through the defense and ripped a redirected left foot shot past Rider keeper Ella Jacobs for her eighth marker of the season.
Working from the outside against a pair of defenders with the halftime break looming off of a throw in, Siefker sliced through the defense and centered a pass to teammate Delaney Duling who stepped through three opposing players for her third goal of the season.
“I liked the way we finished the first half by putting one away to grab a two goal lead. In the first half there were opportunities on both sides for goals” said Maag on building a 2-0 lead with 1:39 remaining in the opening 40 minutes.
Twenty seconds after the opening kickoff of the second half the Roughriders cut into the lead at 2-1 on a goal from Kelly Holsinger high outside the right corner of the box that eluded Titan keeper Karsyn Erford and bounced into the net.
Holsinger’s goal with 39:40 stopped a streak of 546 minutes without a goal allowed by Ottawa Glandorf dating back to the first game of the season against Anthony Wayne.
Of allowing the first conference goal since Sept. 30th, 2021 to Shawnee, Maag remarked “The two goal cushion didn’t last long after the halftime break but I love the way the team responded afterwards, it was a great five minutes of soccer from us and we got one back pretty quickly”.
In nearly identical fashion to the goal surrendered in their opener the Titans wasted no time notching the aforementioned goal as Siefker reached a corner kick set piece through to the top corner of the net for her second of the night at 35:51.
Not content with just her third multiple goal game of the season, Siefker struck again with 12:49 remaining, this time against backup keeper Leah Brackman off of a high cross pass from freshman Liv Grothause to account for the second three goal game in her last three outings.
OG’s final tally of the contest came from the duo of Mackenzie Recker and Myka Aldrich as the former set up her senior teammate by tiptoeing the back line to create a straight on shot for a 5-1 lead at 4:33.
“She’s got a program that their records speak volumes. If you’re in year three and you’ve already been to state twice you’re doing something right. There’s a lot of talent across the board on the other side of the field” remarked St. Marys head coach Nick Wilson on the Titans program.
Next up for the Roughriders (5-3, 3-1) is a varsity only Western Buckeye League contest on Tuesday at 5pm in Van Wert against the Cougars that will kick off a three game, six day road trip against Columbus Grove and Shawnee.
Third ranked Ottawa Glandorf (8-0, 4-0) remains one of just two league unbeatens with Shawnee (2-0-2) who will host the Titans on October 3rd but will hit the road on Saturday for an 11am non-conference tilt at Archbold.
Goals:
32:27 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
1:39 – Delaney Duling (OG)
39:40 – Kelly Holsinger (SM)
35:51 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
12:49 – Makenna Siefker (OG)
4:33 – Myka Aldrich (OG)
Assists:
Liv Grothause (OG) – 1
Makenna Siefker (OG) – 1
Bri Douglass (OG) – 1
Mackenzie Recker (OG) – 1
Shots:
OG – 10
SM – 9
Saves:
4 – Karsyn Erford (OG)
3 – Leah Brackman (SM)
2 – Ella Jacobs (SM)
JV: 0-0 Tie