OTTOVILLE – Five starters from last seasons one loss Big Green spots means this season will be a campaign led by the youth movement for the Ottoville boys soccer program.
Losses of multiple year starters including a four year starting goaltender will open plenty of possibilities for the freshman and sophomore classes to continue to build upon their experience on the pitch and contribute right away.
Last season the Big Green opened the year by surging to 15 straight wins before being defeated at rival Kalida 1-0 in the district round.
“I believe the Putnam County League will be very competitive again this year. Each team in the conference returns quite a bit of experience which will lead to some very competitive games this season” said Ottoville boss Dustin Markward.
This year the Big Green will rely on their four top returning goal scorers from last season in Will Miller, Kellen Schlagbaum, Trey Landwehr, and Preston Mansfield to lead an offense that accounted for 69 markers collectively.
Will Miller led the squad in goals and assists with 20 and 16 respectively with Schlagbaum finishing second in both categories at nine goals and 11 assists. Despite not being a starter during his freshman campaign, Preston Mansfield finished just behind Landwehr (nine goals, three assists) in the top four as he notched seven goals with five helpers.
Defensively Ottoville surrendered just eight goals but find themselves breaking in a replacement for Kaiden Trentman who turned away 37 shots and will see junior Alex Suever making his first start between the pipes when the Big Green kick off the season on August 20th against Lincolnview.
Three year starter Will Horstman will bolster the defensive backfield and be joined by returning starters Carter Horstman and Michael Steffan.
Asked about the youth movement his squad will be under this year Markward says “We only have 4 seniors so we will be a little young, but those young guys bring a lot of experience as they have contributed for us the past few years at the varsity level. Some of these younger guys will have some big shoes to fill from what we lost last year but I expect them to do an exceptional job”.
Ottoville opens the season with a pair of 7:00 P.M. home games against Lincolnview and Van Wert before hitting the road for the first time on August 28th for the non-league version of their matchup with rival Fort Jennings that kicks off at 1:00 P.M.