Girls soccer: Ottawa-Glandorf closes in on WBL crown

GLANDORF – Ottawa-Glandorf reached the state finals last year, but the Titans didn’t bring home the West Buckeye League title.

The Titans looked to take control of the WBL race on Thursday.

OG won the girls soccer game 6-0 over Shawnee on the grass at the OG Soccer Complex.

OG has 21 points and needs one more win to clinch the WBL title.

OG is 11-2-1 overall and 7-0 in the Western Buckeye League.

“I am very happy for our children today. They worked really hard,” OG coach Michelle Maag said. “There was really good offense today and they played at a good tempo. They also had great finishing.”

Shawnee, who has 14 points, is 7-1-3, 4-1-2 in the WBL.

St. Mary’s started the night with 13 points with three games to go and can get to 22 points with three wins.

OG dominated the first half, constantly moving the ball through the midfield and passing the ball around and across the 18-yard box.

“I think it starts with 50-50 balls and we did a good job of winning balls in the air today and we were able to adjust it from there. We moved well on the ball and had good activity off the ball and the final kick came for us as well.”

OG’s Bree Douglas had two goals for the Titans. Makena Zifker added two goals.

“Last year we fell short (of the WBL title) and we realized that’s not something we want to do again,” Douglas said. “We changed our tempo, came out strong and did all the things we didn’t do last year.”

Mackenzie Recker had one goal. Clara Beach has one goal and two assists.

Lily Hasselman added two assists.

“Brie and Lily did a good job of running the end line and sending the ball to the crossbar,” Maag said. “We felt we had an advantage in the wide area and we wanted to take advantage of that. I thought the kids did a great job.”

OG outshot Shawnee, 18-4.

The Titans led 4-0 at the half.

OG constantly had attack after attack and took 16 corner kicks. Shawnee didn’t have a cornerback that night.

OG goalie Emma Brinkman made one save.

Shawnee goalie Chloe Nance made nine saves.

At 34:18 of the first half, Hasselman made a pass into the penalty area from the left corner.

Siefker settled the pass and sent it into the net from 17 yards out.

This gave OG a 1-0 lead.

Siefker scored her second goal of the game and 14th of the season at 33:34 of the first half.

Siefker ate up a loose ball outside the penalty area and fired it into the bottom left corner of the goal.

That made it 2-0, Titans.

With 21:38 left in the first half, Beach fired a shot into the box and Douglas one-footed it into the net from 6 yards out.

That gave the Titans a 3-0 lead.

“I knew I had to be there and I kicked him,” Douglas said.

OG scored again with seven seconds left in the half on Hasselman’s corner kick from the left corner.

Hasselman shot from the corner into traffic

in front of the net and Beach scored the ball.

This gave the Titans a 4-0 lead.

OG outscored Shawnee, 11-1, in the first half.

Shawnee has a much younger team than a year ago, with two freshmen and five sophomores.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match, and we knew they were a high-pressing team,” Shawnee coach Caroline O’Brien said. “Our intelligence report indicated that they would have six or seven men in 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 to the tournament.”

At 37:37, Bree Douglas headed into the net after Beach’s cross.

Beach is far from the tallest player on the court, but she battled for position and won the header.

“They know I’m shorter, so they knew to send the ball a little lower,” Douglas said with a laugh.

That pushed OG’s lead to 5-0.

Recker scored on a 15-yard reverse kick to make it 6-0 at the 30:39 mark.

The Titans return seven starters from last year’s team that reached the state finals and lost to Waynesville 1-0.

“We’re definitely making progress,” Maag said. “I think today was a really big step forward for us.”

Contact the Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.