Roughriders get pair of tourney wins

ST. MARYS - Two opposing soccer teams came to St. Marys' Roughrider Field on Monday night for Division II sectional semifinal games.

Both visitors - the Kenton girls and Van Wert boys - had their seasons ended.

In Monday's opener, Coutney Helmlinger's late first-half goal held up as the Roughriders defeated Kenton 1-0.

In the nightcap, Caleb James' goal ignited the St. Marys' boys after a slow start, and then Zack Lemmerman and Evan Vogel scored in the early stages of the second half to seal the deal on a 3-0 victory.

Both Roughrider teams advance to Thursday sectional final games against Bath. The girls travel for a rematch with the top-seeded Wildkittens at 7 p.m. In boys' action, third-seeded St. Marys hosts sixth-seeded Bath at 5 p.m.
GIRLS

The Roughriders defeated the Wildcats 5-0 in their Western Buckeye League opener earlier in the season.

The second time around was a lot tougher.

"I think part of it was them definitely improving," St. Marys girls coach Seth Hertenstein said. "The last game their goalie gave us some second-chance opportunities that we pounced on. Tonight she only gave up a few. They definitely improved and we didn't have that final touch. When we first played them, we put the ball in the back of the net. Tonight we had opportunities and didn't put them in."

Except for the one, of course.

The Roughriders had a few near misses on seven first-half chances, including Josie Bowman's shot that clanked off the post with 26 minutes remaining. Enter Helmlinger, who broke the scoreless tie with 3:09 left in the half.

Anabela Godinho received a few good looks for the Roughriders in the second half, but one deflected off the post and another clean look was denied by Kenton keeper Felicity Rogel-Nova, who performed well facing a barrage of shot attempts.

It was a rather uneventful day in goal for St. Marys' Bailey Fenwick-Miller, who saw just two shots come her way.

St. Marys marches on to face the WBL champion Wildcats, who came from behind to defeated the Roughriders 2-1 on Sept. 22 in Bath Township.

"I think when we showed up there the first time, they weren't expecting much from us," Hertenstein said. "They were expecting kind of an easy win. We caught them off-guard. I think they're going to be ready for us Thursday.   

"(We're) obviously going to have to be better than we were the first time. We've got to limit our mistakes - that's what cost us in the end of the first time. We've got to make sure we bring our A-game."
BOYS

Coach Dave Ring talked the talk on the sidelines. His team walked the walk on the field.

After a slow and somewhat frustrating start for Ring's team, James netted a shot from a near-improbable angle on the side of the goal with 1:25 left in the first half - setting into motion a 20-minute stretch that was all Roughriders.

Lemmerman headed in a goal off a pass from Evan Vogel less than two minutes into the second half and then Vogel added his own score at the 25:38 mark and the Roughriders secured a spot in the sectional title game.

Roughrider keeper Stuart Yahl didn't see much action but showed what he was capable of the one time he did. Nearing the 11-minute mark of the first half, Yahl made a diving stop on what was one of very few Cougar chances in the game.

"I'll take the victory," said Ring, "but we've got to do a better job of our passing. Right now, between the injuries and a couple other things that are going on where I'm missing players, I'm just happy with the way we're developing and trying to continue. It's been a very trying season."

As Ring pointed out, injuries to key players piled up this season for a St. Marys team that had hopes of winning a WBL title. Even though that's the case, Ring made it clear he still believes this team can make a great tournament run, especially with the way the defense has been playing.

That road continues with a Wildcat team that is also dealing with injuries of their own. St. Marys defeated Bath 1-0 on Sept. 24.

"We're both two wounded giants going after each other - it's going to be a great game," said Ring, whose team improved to 12-3-2. "We've just got to continue to get better. We've got to continue to win. We've had a strong defense all year. We're going to play strong on defense - we know that. Only one team has scored two goals on us, and that's O-G.

"I'm comfortable with what we've got. We've just got to continue to play and hopefully get a couple of good bounces."