Bulldogs top ninth-ranked Redskins, 2-0

CELINA - The Wapakoneta girls soccer team had dominated most of the teams it played this year.

Celina wasn't about to be one of them.

The Bulldogs took it to the Redskins, ranked ninth in the latest Division II state coaches' poll, from start to finish and handed them their first loss of the season, 2-0, on Tuesday night at the soccer stadium in Celina.

Alyssa Cisco and Kendall Gilmore each scored goals as the Bulldogs upped their record to 7-2-0 and 3-2 in Western Buckeye League play.

The Redskins, who had outscored opponents 29-1 entering Tuesday, dropped to 7-1-1 and 3-1-1 in the WBL.

After a few tough setbacks in league play, Celina coach Cal Freeman said this one felt good to get.

"It's a good win for us," Freeman said. "The girls played hard like they do every game. Tonight, we were finally able to put them in the back of the net, which kind of went away from us for a while. Tonight we did well. I'm very proud of the girls, how hard they played. We just need to keep building from here."

Celina generated some quality chances against Wapak keeper Katie Manger early but couldn't get one across until the latter stages of the half. Cisco collected the rebound on a Caelyn Reineke shot attempt and snuck it past Manger for a 1-0 lead with 4:28 to play in the first.

The Bulldogs didn't wait to add a little insurance in the second half. Gilmore took a nice pass from Reineke in front of goal and scored it for a 2-0 lead with 31:41 to play.

"Be patient. It'll come. Look for the one-more pass and then take a quality shot," said Freeman on the game plan. "Unfortunately, we missed a lot of quality shots in the beginning that we had good looks at. The passes were there, which we definitely improved and at halftime we talked about that. We did 50 percent of the things, now lets go ahead and do 100 percent and that's get another good look at the goal. It worked out for us in the second half. We got another one in.

"I'm very proud ... and that's a very good team we just played."

The Bulldogs didn't just play them.For the most part, they shut down the Redskins. Celina held a 16-6 shot advantage for the game. Celina keeper Callie Vogel (two saves) didn't have to move much as her defense did a good job of preventing any Wapak run-outs and cleaning up the garbage around the net.

"Our defense stepped up," Freeman said. "I've always said we have a very good defense, but we had a couple injuries and things that we had to deal with. Tonight, we were healthy in the back. It just makes a difference when you've got the players in and they're healthy and they're feeling good. Defense is a key and they stepped up and they did a nice job again tonight."

The Bulldogs return to action Saturday at home against Ontario before jumping back into WBL play next Monday at Grand Lake rival St. Marys.