Ottawa-Glandorf’s Karsyn Erford saves a shot against Akron Manchester’s Kalie Norris during Tuesday night’s Division III state semifinal at Shelby High School.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
SHELBY — The Ottawa Glandorf Titans girls’ soccer team found itself in a familiar situation Tuesday evening as the Titans faced the Akron Manchester Panthers at Shelby High School in the state semifinals for the second consecutive year.
The Titans rode on the back of junior Makenna Siefker, who tallied her seventh hat trick of the year, helping to lead O-G to a 5-1 win and its third trip to the state championship match in as many years. Delaney Duling and Bri Douglas also got in on the scoring for the Titans.
The Titans have the propensity for scoring early. This contest was no different as O-G scored eight minutes into the first half when Douglas found Siefker on a quick pass. Siefker sent it by the Panthers keeper to give the Titans a 1-0 advantage.
“That early goal goes a long way for our confidence,” Titans coach Michelle Maag said. “We kept the attack on and added on to that before the half.”
The Titans had more opportunities in the first half while keeping Manchester in its defensive end for the better part of the first 40y. O-G keeper Karsyn Erford kept the Panthers off the board with two saves midway in the half and a diving stop with 3:30 before the break.
O-G had scored early in the half and capped off the half with a Duling delivery from 18 yards out. Duling went top shelf right out of the reach of Panther keeper Bridget Remenyi to make it a 2-0 contest with just over a minute left in the half.
“We talked at halftime, this game is zero-zero,” Maag said. “We had to play on the front foot. Manchester is a great team. We couldn’t just play keep away for 40 minutes.”
The Titans wasted no time in adding to their lead in the second 40 minutes. Siefker added her second goal 26 seconds into the half, giving the blue and gold a 3-0 advantage. O-G kept its foot on the gas with a continued attack on the Panthers’ defense.
“We talked at the half, let’s get an early goal,” Maag said. “Misson accomplished.”
Siefker added her third goal of the night with 34:29 to g, to give the Titans a 4-0 lead and becoming the all-time goal scorer in school history.
“We were really motivated coming into this game,” Siefker said. “we knew they are a good team. We knew we had to play a good game. We always try to come out with as much pressure as we can and when we do that and score early it just gives us more confidence for the rest of the game.”
The Panthers broke through when their leading scorer Katie Norris got a shot just out of the reach of Ottawa-Glandorf keeper Karsyn Erford at the 19:54 mark, making it 4-1. The goal was the first given up by the Titans in the tournament.
“We talk a ton about being a 80 minute team,” Maag said. “We have to be locked in for eight minutes if you want to win these state games.”
The Titans took that play the entire 80 minutes to heart as with one second left, Douglas tacked on the fifth goal of the game from 12 yards out, capping off the victory.
Dave Boninsegna wrote this for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
