Overtime heartbreak

SPENCERVILLE - In the final match of the girls' soccer regular season, Coldwater and Spencerville played to a 2-2 draw.

Saturday's Division III sectional final was played until a winner was crowned.

After 80 minutes of regulation resulted in a 1-1 deadlock, it took nearly 24 minutes of overtime before the Bearcats got a rebound goal to advance with a 2-1 win over the Cavaliers at Memorial Field in Spencerville.

"They fought to the very end" Coldwater coach Lisa Brackman said. "It just didn't go our way this year."

The Bearcats (10-5-2) advance to the Ottoville district semifinal on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Kalida, which defeated Columbus Grove 2-1 in double overtime on Saturday. The Cavaliers finish their season at 7-8-2.

The wind and rainy conditions made for an interesting style of play. Coldwater had the wind to its back in the first half and applied offensive pressure to the Bearcats' goal. Finally, with 11:09 remaining in the first half, Megan Sigler was able to break free and put a shot past Bearcat keeper Kottia Williams for a 1-0 lead.

"We knew Spencerville was very fast and we knew we had to mark them good," Brackman said. "We had to win the ball early so they didn't use their speed on us. The defense did exactly what we wanted them to do."

The Cavaliers had several chances to cushion their lead in the second half, but Williams worked hard to make several saves while several other shots were either just wide or too high over the goal.

Spencerville had the wind advantage in the second half, but then had to battle intermittent rain. Coldwater keeper Elise Kramer was able to scoop up several long passes before a Bearcat could make a kick, but with 15 minutes left in regulation, Kelsey Shaffer put the ball into the net to tie the game.

The Bearcats put the pressure on the Cavalier defense in the first 15-minute sudden victory overtime period, but came up empty. The start of the second overtime was similar as it appeared that the teams would have to settle the tie with penalty kicks, but Spencerville finally caught a break as the clock neared six minutes remaining. Shaffer broke free inside the Cav 18-yard box and tried a shot. Kramer deflected the ball. Another shot bounced off the sidebar, but Gillian Goecke got the rebound and put it past Kramer with 6:03 remaining in the overtime to end the match.

"We knew it was going to be a hard-fought battle, and it was," said Brackman. "We not only had to fight Spencerville, but (also) the wind and the rain and all the elements with it. It was a difficult game today."

ALL-WOSL - Several Coldwater players earned All-Western Ohio Soccer League honors from the league coaches.

Seniors Erin Schritz and Grace Bruns, sophomore Katie Noonan and freshman Ava Giere were named to the second team in the league voting. Seniors Mara Dues and Alli May were named to the honorable mention.

Lehman's Grace Monnin was named the Girls Player of the Year and Anna coach Mike Noll was named Coach of the Year for leading the Rockets to a league title.

Botkins, which won the boys league title, swept the top honors as Cody Meyer was named Player of the Year and Kevin Lynch earned Coach of the Year.