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St. Marys' Calvin Brown (5) shoots the ball past Defiance's Jayden Garcia during Wednesday's game in St. Marys.
ST. MARYS - Coming into the postseason after an up and down end to the regular season, St. Marys got back on track in a 5-0 win over Defiance in the Division III boys soccer sectional final.
"I hope we can use this going forward, we gained some momentum," said St. Marys coach Josh Slusher, who earned his first postseason win as head coach of the Roughriders. "I told the kids, we are 0-0 to start this game, now we're 1-0 and it's a new season."
The top-seeded Roughriders (14-2-1) advance to play three-seeded Elida in a rematch of their de facto Western Buckeye League title match that ended 3-0 to the Bulldogs to end the regular season. Elida beat Wapakoneta 2-0 in their sectional final to advance.
It took just six minutes for St. Marys to strike with Reid Kantner getting the scoring started. The junior collected a cross from the left wing and cut in toward the goal before powering the close-range shot past the keeper, who was left to just watch it go by.
Just four minutes later, the Riders doubled their lead. Jackson Green, who entered with a team-high eight goals, took advantage of a slip by a defender and beat the keeper in a one-on-one to push the lead to 2-0 with 30 minutes left in the half.
Kantner was not done however, and he made it a 3-0 lead just five minutes later. In a similar effort to his first goal, he took a pass from Nick Dietz at the edge of the box and cut through the defense. With just the keeper to beat, Kantner calmly put it away across the goal and into the corner.
"It helps to get that fast start," said Slusher. "Especially in the tournament against a league opponent who is familiar with you.
St. Marys' Noah White (19) battles Defiance's Yaxel Gutierrez-Piedrasanta (11) for possesion during Wednesday's Division III sectional final.
In a game of goal tag, Green finished the half with his second goal at the 12 minute mark. A hopeful ball from the midfield was played toward Green on the right wing, and after he sprinted past the defensive line, the junior took aim and fired it past the keeper's reach to make it 4-0.
It stayed a four-goal game through the early parts of the second half. Despite St. Marys putting five shots on target over the first 10 minutes, it was a penalty that extended the Riders' lead.
A scrum at the edge of the box went a bit too far for the ref, who pointed to the penalty spot. Colten Spray, who had an assist earlier in the match, stepped up and sent it down the middle as the keeper dove in the wrong direction. With 26:41 left, St. Marys had their fifth and final.
The benches were emptied over the final minutes, and while Defiance took a trio of hopeful shots toward the end, there was no goals to show for it.
Roughriders keeper Kyle Ibrahim finished with three collections, while Doc Hertenstein made one save and had two collections off the bench.
