Ottoville holds off Lima Senior

LIMA - Brittany Sterling had scored once for Lima Senior.

Now she was dribbling in with an excellent one-on-one chance for another.

Suddenly, Ottoville sweeper Chelsea Bowers came from nowhere to kick the ball away from Sterling before she was able to pull the trigger.

Bowers' late stop helped preserve a 2-1 Ottoville girls soccer victory over Lima Senior Thursday at Lima Stadium.

Ottoville's Alyssa Honingford's goal gave the Big Green the lead to stay 2-1 with 30:01 to play in the match.

But it appeared Sterling would get a quality shot with 7:51 to go when she neared the 18-yard box all alone with only the Ottoville goalie in front of her. Bowers hit a jet stream, made up 10 yards from behind and cleared the ball safely out of bounds.

"I like those kinds of plays where I can come behind because I have the explosion speed, I guess. I just kind of timed it and when she was going for the shot, I threw my body in front of it," Bowers said. "I like those plays."

On the night, Bowers made 17 stops from her sweeper slot in the back.

"We have Chelsea there for a reason," Ottoville coach Kevin Krouskop said. "She's a highly physical player and a very talented player. She's a burner. She's very, very fast. She's a track star and we put those legs to very good use."

Ottoville is 2-1. Lima Senior stands 0-2-1.

Ottoville lost its starting goalkeeper, senior Nikki Kimmet, with a leg injury for the game when she made a sliding stop on a loose ball with 33:57 left in the first half.

In came freshman goalkeeper Lauren Kramer (three saves) and she was immediately tested.

Lima Senior scored first on a breakaway goal by Sterling. She took a feed from Rachael Fisher, dribbled down and fired a 10-yard shot in the goal with 31:37 to play in the first half.

Ottoville had its chances in the first half, but couldn't finish. Ottoville outshot Lima Senior 8-3 in the first half and 18-5 for the game.

"I think we really underestimated the speed of their team," Krouskop said. "They played very well on this fast field (field turf). We completely underestimated their ball skills and their speed, so that put us back on our heels in the first half. We adjusted some personnel in the second half."

Lima Senior seemed to wear down in the second half, as numerous injuries forced the Spartans to play only two subs.

"We came out well in the first half and were supporting each other well. We came out aggressive and I think we got tired and we let down for a little bit and that's what hurt us," Lima Senior coach Morgan Lashaway said.

Kari Beining scored the game-tying goal from 10-yards out off a free kick by Honingford with 31:22 to play.

Then with 30:01 left, Lauren Koch crossed a pass to Kendra Krouskop, who took a shot. Honingford deflected it in the lower-left corner of the net to make it 2-1.

"She took a shot, it went back side and I touched it in," Honingford said.