By MARC TOBIAS
mtobias@dailystandard.com
ST. MARYS — The St. Marys girls soccer team was able to
improve its record to 5-4 with an impressive 6-0 win over Western
Buckeye League rival Kenton.
The win also moves the Roughriders to 2-2 in the WBL, while
Kenton falls to 3-7 (0-6 WBL).
St. Marys dominated all facets of the game, as it outshot Kenton
22-4, and took 10 corner kicks to the Wildcats’ two. Kenton
was held without a shot in the first half, and finally broke
through with its first attempt after St. Marys had built a 4-0
lead.
Haley Fannon opened the scoring in the game in the ninth minute
when she scored the first of her two goals. Fannon received
the ball with a defender on her back, but she was able to make
a quick turn to her right before burying the ball into the back
of the net.
St. Marys scored on one of its eight first half corner kicks
in the 21st minute. When the Wildcats failed to clear the ball,
Jodi Meinerding took advantage by tapping the ball home for
a Roughriders 2-0 lead at the half.
It could’ve easily been 3-0 as Dani Johnsman scored on
a pass from Fannon two minutes before halftime, but an offside
call waved off the goal.
In the second half the Riders came out inspired, as they scored
two goals in the first two minutes of play.
A throw-in near midfield led to a break away chance for Fannon.
Fannon took the throw-in and dribbled 40 yards before sliding
a ball underneath Kenton keeper Brandy Bowman.
Less than a minute later, Jenny Kellermeyer scored from 20 yards
out when her shot was over Bowman’s head.
St. Marys coach Scott Fannon said his squad talked about getting
out to a quick start in the second half.
“We talked about it, and how we stayed on one side of
the field too long, and I talked about a couple of passes and
then look to cross and it paid off for us,” Fannon said.
“The girls hopefully will see the big picture now, we’ve
been stressing it all year and now they’re starting to
see it. Hopefully it will carry over, because we have a tough
one Thursday against Elida. They are ranked in the state, and
they deserve it.”
Bowman recorded 12 saves for the Wildcats, but the St. Marys
pressure was relentless.
St. Marys keeper Stephanie Platt recorded two saves on the only
two shots she faced.
“In games past, she’s had some wonderful games for
us, but I’m glad she didn’t have pressure on her,
because it shows we were intense in the midfield and looking
to pass the ball on offense,” Fannon said. “Our
defense doesn’t get enough credit, there’s games
we lost 3-0 or 2-1, but they do a wonderful job back there.
They deserve more credit, and I keep telling them that too.”
The St. Marys midfield was equally impressive, as it killed
most Kenton offensive attacks.
“We have some great midfielders and they really hustled,
that was their goal, they really wanted to put pressure on them
and not let them get the ball across (midfield),” Fannon
said.
St. Marys is back in action Thursday when it travels to Elida.
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