Shawnee’s Tayma Jmiai heads the ball against Ottawa-Glandorf’s Myka Aldrich during Thursday night’s match at the Ottawa-Glandorf Athletic Complex.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
GLANDORF – Ottawa-Glandorf reached the state finals last year, but the Titans didn’t bring home the Western Buckeye League title.
The Titans wanted to take control of the WBL race Thursday.
O-G rolled to a 6-0 girls soccer victory over Shawnee on the grass of the O-G soccer complex.
O-G has 21 points and needs one more win to claim the WBL title.
O-G is 11-2-1 overall and 7-0 in the Western Buckeye League.
“I’m excited for our kids today. They worked really hard,” O-G coach Michelle Maag said. “It was a really good offensive showing today and they played with good pace. They had great finishes, as well.’’
Shawnee, which has 14 points, is 7-1-3, 4-1-2 in the WBL.
St. Marys entered the night with 13 points with three games left and can get to 22 points with three wins.
O-G dominated the first half, continually moving the ball through the midfield and passing the ball around and through the 18-yard box.
“I think it starts with 50-50 balls and we did a good job winning balls in the air today and we were able to set it up from there. We moved the ball well and had good activity off the ball and the final shot came for us, as well.’’
O-G’s Bri Douglas had two goals for the Titans. Makenna Siefker added two goals.
“Last year we fell short (of the WBL title) and we realized that’s not what we wanted to do again,” Douglas said. “We changed our pace and came out strong and did all the things that we fell short of last year.’’
Mackenzie Recker had one goal. Clara Beach had one goal and two assists.
Lily Haselman added two assists.
“Bri and Lily did a good getting the end line and sending the ball in for a cross,” Maag said. “We felt we had an advantage in the wide area and we wanted to take an advantage of that. I thought the kids did a great job.’’
O-G outshot Shawnee, 18-4.
The Titans led 4-0 at the half.
O-G continually had offensive chance after offensive chance and took 16 corner kicks. Shawnee didn’t have a corner kick on the night.
O-G goalkeeper Emma Brinkman made one save.
Shawnee goalkeeper Chloe Nance had nine saves.
At the 34:18 mark of the first half, Haselman passed into the box from the left corner.
Siefker settled the pass and fired it into the net from 17-yards out.
That gave O-G a 1-0 lead.
Siefker scored her second goal of the match, and 14th of the season, at the 33:34 mark of the first half.
Siefker gobbled up a loose ball just outside the goal box and pounded it into the lower-left corner of the net.
That made it 2-0, Titans.
With 21:38 left in the first half, Beach fired one into the box that Douglas one-footed into the net from 6-yards out.
That gave the Titans a 3-0 lead.
“I knew I had to be there and I tapped it in with my foot,” Douglas said.
O-G scored again with seven seconds left in the half off a Haselman corner kick out of the left corner.
Haselman shot the corner into a traffic jam in
front of the net and Beach knocked it home.
That gave the Titans a 4-0 lead.
O-G outshot Shawnee, 11-1, in the first half.
Shawnee has a much younger team than a year ago, as it started two freshmen and five sophomores.
“We knew it would be a tough match and we knew they were a high-pressing team,” Shawnee coach Caroline O’Brien said. “Our scouting report showed they would have six or seven on the attack and they kept coming at us all night. They did a great job executing our game plan. … This loss doesn’t define who we are and we’re going to come back and go for the tournament.’’
With 37:37 to play, Bri Douglas headed a shot into the net, on a cross from Beach.
Beach is far from the tallest player on the field, but she battled for position and won the header.
“They know I’m shorter, so they knew they had to send the ball in a little lower,” Douglas said with a laugh.
That pushed the O-G lead to 5-0.
Recker scored on a turnaround shot from 15-yards out to make it 6-0 with 30:39 to play.
The Titans returned seven starters from last year’s team that reached the state finals and lost to Waynesville, 1-0.
“We are most definitely making progress,” Maag said. “I think today was a really big step forward for us.’’
Tom Usher wrote this story for The Lima News. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
