Early goal key for Cavaliers in WOSL win

COLDWATER - After being shut out in its first two matches, the Coldwater girls soccer team looked to rebound in the West Ohio Soccer League opener against Delphos St. John's.

A goal five minutes into the match set the tone as the Cavaliers came away with a 6-0 win over the Blue Jays at Village Hall Field.

"That was the thing we talked about before the game," Coldwater coach Scott Brinkman said. "Coming out with passion. Coming out and winning 50/50 balls and having fun. We did that tonight."

After both teams battled around midfield to start the game, Coldwater went to work. Maura Hoying fired a perfect leading pass to Lexi Meyer, who put it past Blue Jay keeper Kristina Koester with 34:56 left in the first half to give the Cavaliers the lead.

Both teams had several shots on goal that didn't go in, both teams being just wide of the goal.

With less than two minutes left in the half, Hoying worked her way into the open field with the ball and put it away to put Coldwater up 2-0 at the break.

Brinkman stressed at the break to keep the intensity and to try and get the first goal of the second half to put the game away.

That goal came just over seven minutes into the second half as Brooke Klosterman sent the ball to Hoying, who chalked up her second goal of the match and season.

"The third goal (of the match) for me is very critical," Brinkman said. "Three-to-nothing (lead) is huge. Two-to-one means 'Game on.' That third goal was the difference."

Five minutes later, a corner kick by Amanda Kahlig was found by Hoying in the goal area to make it a hat trick and a 4-0 lead. Just over 30 seconds later, Coldwater gained possession of the ball and Alli May scored her first varsity goal off an Abby Schritz assist to make it 5-0.

Hoying, already the program's all-time goal scorer as a sophomore, capped off the night of scoring with a goal off a Baylie Baker pass with just over seven minutes to play.

The Coldwater defense shined. St. John's had just seven shots on goal during the evening. Starting keeper Brittany Muhlenkamp was needed for just two saves while relief goalie Grace Bruns made one save. St. John's (1-2-0, 0-1-0 WOSL) had a chance to avoid the shutout in the final minutes, but a clear shot banged off the goal post.

"I think our defense did a good job of not letting them get into a rhythm," Brinkman said. "Soon as they did, we had someone there to disrupt. St. John's strategy is that they want to control the ball a little bit and then go with a through ball. We wanted to keep them from getting that through ball. Brittany did a nice job. She didn't have a lot of saves, but was active (retrieving long and errant St. John's passes into the box)."

Coldwater (1-2-0, 1-0-0 WOSL) returns to action Thursday at Ryan Field in Wapakoneta against the Redskins. The junior varsity will play at 5 p.m. with the varsity match slated to start around 7 p.m.