Cavaliers shut out Trojans

COLDWATER - A pair of Maura Hoying goals and a stout defense that limited Botkins' chances allowed the Coldwater girls soccer team to improve to 3-1 in Western Ohio Soccer League play with a 2-0 win over the Trojans at Village Hall Field on Tuesday afternoon.

The Cavaliers improve to 3-5-1 with Botkins dropping to 4-6-2 (2-2-0 WOSL).

Coldwater had plenty of chances to score, out-shooting Botkins 14-4. Trojans goalkeeper Keirstyn Rogers made six saves but allowed two Hoying goals on a pair of one-on-one confrontations.

The first came with 1:13 left in the first half. Hoying took a pass at midfield, made a move to shake off the defensive pressure from the Botkins defense, and put the ball past Rogers for the 1-0 lead.

The other goal came with just under 10 minutes left in the match in a near carbon-copy of the first goal. Hoying again broke free near the top of the penalty box and kicked the ball past the the charging Rogers.

"We're a volume team. If we're going to score goals, we're going to have to take a lot of shots," Coldwater coach Scott Brinkman said. "So we need to put the ball on frame (at the goal) as much as we can. We got some direct free kicks (after Botkins fouls).

"That's the luxury we have (with Hoying), with one pass and a couple of moves, Maura's in on goal. I'll take that chance all the time."

Defensively, Coldwater made a point of keeping Natalie Ambos in check through the game. Ambos had two good chances to score within a two-minute span midway through the first half but was shut down for the final half.

"We knew that (Ambos) was good for them," Brinkman said. "We knew if we could contain (her), that would give us a better chance. Our thought coming in was to really compact things on the defensive end and don't give them a lot of room to maneuver. We wanted to knock the ball forward to our midfielders.

Cavaliers keeper Brittany Muhlenkamp made saves on all four Botkins attempts in the contest.

Coldwater returns to action on Thursday for a 6 p.m. varsity-only match at Crestview.