Piper's goals pay off for the Bulldogs

CELINA - Bluffton keeper Levi Smith probably grew tired of seeing Brennan Piper racing toward him with the ball in his possession and a determined look in his eyes during the first half on Saturday.

Because when that happened, Piper usually made them pay.

The Celina junior scored two first-half goals and the Bulldogs delivered the complete team effort that coach Ryan Jenkins wanted to see in a 2-0 win over the Pirates (5-5) at the soccer stadium.

"Brennan has the breakaway speed," Jenkins said. "All of a sudden, the ball pops out and Brennan gets out there to it. He did a good job of finishing a few today. Brennan played well, but overall as a team, I felt like we played like a unit and it was nice to get that win."

Nine minutes into the match, Austin Hines made a crisp touch pass up the field to Piper, who took a couple dribbles with a defender on his hip and kicked the ball past Smith for a 1-0 lead.

Piper netted his second goal with 14:17 remaining in the half. He narrowly missed a hat trick on a couple other breakaways later in the half.

Celina keeper Braden Conn had another solid showing in net, making eight saves. Bluffton's Tristan Smucker had a good look with 22 minutes left in the first half on which Conn made a leaping save. Conn made an all-out diving stop with 8:30 left in the game. Conn received help from the post on Cole Harlow's laser with 5:30 left, and that was the last time the Pirates threatened.

The Bulldogs were an efficient 2-for-3 on shot attempts in the game.

"We were looking today for a 100-percent effort out of everybody, and I feel like we got that," Jenkins said. "We played as a team today. We finished the opportunities that we had. Obviously, we would have liked to have a few more, but the ones we got, we finished. Bluffton's a good squad. It's nice to get a non-league win like this moving forward after coming off a couple tough league losses.

"We played how we should play. In the second half, we were trying some different things. Our guys did a good job, but we've still got some work to do. Overall, I was pleased with the way we played. We finished some more opportunities today than we have been. The defense was able to get a shutout and Braden made some great saves, as well."

Celina ran its record to 5-3 on the season but sit 1-2 in Western Buckeye League play. After a tough stretch in WBL play, the Bulldogs are hoping to get back on the winning side when they host Defiance tonight.

"Defiance is coming off of a big win against Bath, so it'll be a battle," Jenkins said. "But it was nice to get a win against a good team, and now we'll move forward and try to get it turned around in the league."