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Coldwater's Avery Knapke (4) is closely defended by St. John's players during Thursday's Division V district soccer final at Ottoville High School. The Blue Jays got a late goal to defeat the Cavaliers 1-0.
OTTOVILLE - The way the first 59 1/2 minutes of Thursday's Division V girls soccer district final was being played, the match was either going to go to extra time or a stray goal would decide the contest.
Turned out, it was the latter as Brooke Altenburger was able to slip a goal into the back of the net with just over 20 minutes remaining in regulation to give Delphos St. John's a 1-0 victory over Coldwater at Ottoville High School.
The Blue Jays (11-9) will play in the regional semifinals for the first time since 2010 on Tuesday against Madeira at 7 p.m. after Madeira shut out Lehman 7-0 in Trotwood. Coldwater ends its season at 14-5-1, a school record for wins.
"(St. John's) definitely came out with a game plan and stuck to it," said Coldwater coach Paul Dingledine. "One goal made the difference. We'll put up with it, I guess.
"It was definitely a solid game between the two of us. Hat's off to them. They did a great job and they're moving on and we're not."
Coldwater's Heidi Wermert ((14) tries to keep the ball away from a St. John's defender during Thursday's Division V district soccer final in Ottoville.
The teams wrapped up the regular season against each other on Oct. 10 at Stadium Park, with the Cavaliers taking advantage of the Blue Jays nursing some injuries to get a 4-0 victory.
St. John's had their players back and used solid defense to make sure the key goal scorers for Coldwater - Avery Knapke, Grace Huwer and Mia Byer - were given strong defense.
Coldwater played its tough defense as well taking away many of St. John's chances to score. In the first half the Blue Jays were unable to get a shot on goal as Coldwater managed just two.
The pace continued through the first part of the second half as neither team could score. Coldwater keeper Sydney Grieshop, who finished with five saves on the night, and St. John's keeper Evie Vonderwell made key stops as other shots went wide or high.
With the clock winding down to the midway point of the half, Altenburger got a slow shot off that had the look for turning wide. Instead, the ball slipped past the defense with 20:23 remaining to put the Blue Jays in front.
Coldwater shifted into a higher gear on offense, trying to overwhelm the Blue Jay defense to try to get an equalizer across to force overtime. Again, shots went high or wide, with as St. John's worked hard to get the ball towards midfield and beyond and out of harm's way as the clock wound down to zeroes.
"They realized they had to turn up the pressure," said Dingledine. "We had opportunities, but couldn't get the result we wanted."
Dingledine was proud of his team for what they accomplished this season.
"Very positive. We're happy with the way things went as far as the season went," said Dingledine, who will lose just seniors Avery Knapke and Kiersten Keller to graduation. "They have something to look forward to next year."
Coldwater's Kiersten Keller keeps her eye on the ball during Thursday's match with St. John's.
