Cheaper by the dozen

By GARY R. RASBERRY
grasberry@dailystandard.com

CELINA - The first-game jitters from Saturday were swept out of the way on Monday night.

Celina scored three goals within a 3 1/2 minute span in the first half and never looked back, picking up its first win of the season in a 12-0 victory over Greenville in girls soccer action at the soccer stadium.

After losing a 5-3 decision to Bryan on Saturday, the Bulldogs shut down the Green Wave (1-2), limiting them to just three shots on goal that Celina keeper Riley Seitz saved in earning her first varsity victory.

"Saturday, we just collectively didn't play well at all," said Celina coach Eric Gerker. "We didn't pass or move. Just kind of stood and really struggled overall. Tonight was a complete change. We were able to get out and get our running and transition game going."

The Bulldogs needed just three minutes to trigger the goal parade. Raven Harris knocked in a rebound off Greenville keeper Abby Raffel with 37 minutes remaining in the first half to put Celina in front 1-0. Less than a minute later, Taylor Klingshirn put in her first goal of the night, and then 90 seconds later added goal number two to make it 3-0. Jena Wilson scored off a Harris pass with 27 minutes to play to raise it to 4-0. Kira Dirksen followed with back-to-back goals at 21:21 and 20:01 to give the Bulldogs a half-dozen goals. Klingshirn earned her hat trick with just over a minute remaining to make it 7-0 at halftime.

"We connected on some passes that weren't making on Saturday," said Gerker. "Once we get clicking, a lot of easy opportunities opened up for us."

Even with a running clock in the second half, Celina continued its scoring pace. Michaela Minning scored with 26:46 remaining in the match to make it 8-0. Ten minutes later, Zoey Burns added a goal. Three minutes after that, Dirksen picked up her own hat trick. Kenlee Holstad and Ellie Hitchcock rounded out the scoring.

The Bulldog defense played tough to keep the Green Wave from getting many quality looks on goal.

"Our defense is still kind of a work in progress with a lot of young girls back there," said Gerker. "They're doing nice things but are still learning."

The junior varsity match was also all Celina with the Bulldogs picking up a 17-0 win.

The homestand continues for Celina on Saturday as Bowling Green comes to the soccer stadium for a matinee contest.