By Marc Tobias
mtobias@dailystandard.com The Lady Bulldogs soccer team was able to notch their first victory of the season by knocking off fellow Western Buckeye League foe Kenton, 7-0.
Celina dominated all facets of the game, as it outshot Kenton 46-2 and held possession of the ball for the vast majority of the game.
"We were beginning to wonder when it (first win) was going to happen, we knew we would have a good chance against Kenton and we knew that we started out with a tough schedule to begin the season, but those things will make you stronger," said Celina coach Dean Liggett. "We knew it was a matter of time, and that it would come eventually, and everything was clicking tonight."
Kenton was able to stay close in the first half, though, as it trailed just 2-0 at the break.
Meg Smalley netted the first goal of the game in the fifth minute off a Rachel Schollmeier cross. The Bulldogs' Shay Adams also made a nice run to get in position to finish the scoring chance, but allowed the ball to roll through to Smalley who buried it in the lower left corner of the goal.
Heidi Schollmeier made it 2-0 in the 26th minute when she received an Allison Hoying pass at the top of the 18-yard box, and then drilled a shot past Kenton keeper Cortney Cornell.
Hoying finished with three assists in the game while Cornell did all she could to keep the Wildcats close, as she racked up 16 saves on the night.
"I thought we played extremely well in the first half, I was pleased with that half," said Kenton coach Mark Schwemer. "The second half we had some breakdowns in the back, although Cortney Cornell, our goalie, played a tremendous game as she has all season."
Celina poured on the pressure in the second half, when it took 29 shots while putting 18 of those on goal.
Adams was the first to break through in the second 40-minute stanza. Hoying dribbled into the left side of the Kenton penalty area and then centered a ball for Adams who had no problems finishing for the 3-0 Celina lead.
That same duo combined for the fourth goal as well, although this time, Hoying fed the ball from the center of the field to an on-running Adams on the left side of the field who then put the ball away in the lower-left corner.
"We finally stopped taking ourselves out of scoring position," Liggett said. "We had two off sides in the game and that's been a big problem for us, we finished the balls on second chance opportunities and we kept the ball low. We've been preaching we have to keep the ball low to the post and tonight most of our goals came on low balls."
Lindsay Miller scored in the 59th minute off a Laura Link corner kick. Traci Byrley was able to keep the ball alive long enough to allow Miller to run on to the loose ball in the box and drill home a goal with her left foot. Liz Klosterman made it 6-0 Celina when she scored in the 69th minute with Kirsten Rose picking up the assist.
Carrie Butturini finished off the 'Dogs scoring when she ripped a shot from roughly 20-yards that scored in the upper left corner of the goal.
Laura Kuhn and Allison Braun combined to get the shutout in goal for Celina, although they were rarely challenged as the Bulldogs defense thwarted the vast majority of Kenton's attacks.
Celina returns to action Thursday when it hosts WBL favorite Elida.
"We're going to need every bit of momentum and good luck and playing the best game of our careers to be able to snatch one away from Elida," Liggett said. "Their rolling right now and they've beat some quality teams, they beat a team (Findlay) that we lost to, so we're going to need every bit of momentum we can get." |
