Ottawa-Glandorf’s Brianna Douglass (11) and St. Marys’ Jillian Tomberlin battle for control of the ball during Thursday night’s match in St. Marys.
Don Speck | The Lima News
ST. MARYS — The Ottawa-Glandorf girls soccer program has made quite a run in the Western Buckeye League.
Heading into Thursday’s key Western Buckeye League matchup at St. Marys, the Titans had reeled off 15 consecutive league victories, starting in the 2022 campaign.
Now, make it 16 straight WBL wins for O-G.
O-G booted 15 shots on goal Thursday night, and found the back of the net five times, en route to a 5-1 victory over St. Marys.
With the win, O-G keeps its unblemished record, improving to 8-0-0 overall and more importantly, 4-0-0 in the WBL. St. Marys slips to 5-3-0 overall and 3-1-0 in league play.
St. Marys’ junior forward Kelly Holsinger got her team on the scoreboard, early in the second half. That goal by Holsinger cut the O-G lead to 2-1. Holsinger’s goal was also the first goal O-G had allowed in the past 16 WBL matches, and the second overall goal of this season.
“We’ve had a really good stretch of shutouts in the league,” O-G head coach Michelle Maag said. “So, obviously, we wanted to keep a clean sheet. We let one go in today, but I thought the girls bounced back, really well.
“We gave up a goal, and immediately came back on the attack and got one back within about five minutes. It definitely fired us up. It gave us some motivation. I loved the response after giving up a goal. I think the girls played with a ton of energy, especially after we gave up that goal.”
In the second half, the Titans fired a total of nine shots on goal.
In the first half, O-G booted six shots toward St. Marys goalkeeper Ella Jacobs (six saves on the night). Leah Brackman replaced Jacobs in the second half and turned away four O-G shots.
Leading the way for O-G Thursday was junior forward Makenna Siefker, who came away with three goals. On the night, Siefker managed to reel off seven shots on goal.
“She (Siefker) is just a player who does whatever we ask her to do – whether that’s scoring goals or being a facilitator,” Maag said. “She accepts the role and does whatever we ask her to do.”
Siefker got the Titans on the scoreboard at the 32:27 mark of the first half with a shot right near the goal.
At the 1:39 mark of the first half, O-G sophomore midfielder Delaney Duling received a nice feed from Siefker and then found the back of the net, to make it 2-0, heading into the halftime break.
In the second half, Holsinger got the Roughriders on the board with a long shot from the right corner of the box, just 20 seconds into the half.
O-G responded with a goal at the 35:51 mark, off the foot of Siefker, near the goal. Duling made a nice pass to Siefker on that score.
With less than 13 minutes left to play, Siefker snuck another shot into the back of the net, extending the O-G lead to 4-1.
Then, with 4:33 left to play, Myka Aldrich rounded out the O-G scoring with a close-range shot inside the box.
O-G took a total of seven corner kicks on the night, while St. Marys took three.
O-G sophomore goalkeeper Karsyn Erford made five saves on the five shots that St. Marys took.
“St. Marys is a fantastic team; and they deserve a ton of credit,” Maag said. “They’re going to go a long way, the rest of the season. I think what is different with them is they play that really high backline. So, we were trying to adjust with that. I thought we adapted well in the second half. But they have some awesome offensive talent. So, we were super-focused on shutting them down.”
Match summary
Shots on Goal: O-G 15, St. Marys 5
Goals: O-G – Makenna Siefker 3, Delaney Duling 1, Myka Aldrich 1; St. Marys – Kelly Holsinger 1
Assists: O-G – Makenna Siefker 1, Delaney Duling 1, Alivia Grothause 1
Corner kicks: O-G 7; St. Marys 3
Records: O-G 8-0-0 (4-0) WBL; St. Marys 5-3 (3-1 WBL)
