Boys soccer notebook: Kalida and O-G open with tie

GLANDORF – The first soccer match of the season gives coaches the opportunity to see what their teams did well and what they need to work on.

Friday’s season-opener for boys soccer, between Ottawa-Glandorf and Kalida, supplied many positives for both squads.

It was nearly 54 minutes into Friday’s match before anyone scored as the game eventually ended in a hard-fought 2-2 tie.

“We had a lot of good chances early in the game,” Kalida coach Ryan Birkemeier said. “It was a little bit back-and-forth. We had to figure out how to play the transition game a little bit. Being the first game of the season – we’ve got to figure it out.

“If we put away a few of those (shots) in the first half, I think it’s a different game. We kind of got a little tired in the second half. That’s something we will continue to work on.”

For the game, O-G took nine shots on goal. Kalida got off 11 shots on goal.

O-G goalkeeper James Niese turned away nine Kalida shots. Kalida goalie Parker Vorst made seven saves on the night.

“Hats off to both goalkeepers,” O-G coach Kyle Metzger said. “Their (Kalida’s) keeper (Vorst) in the first half, had that fingertip save. James (Niese) also had a couple of good saves in the first half. We just kept rolling in the second half. We knew that one of them was going to eventually fall.

“They (Kalida) got their first two (goals), but we didn’t put our heads down. We came right back and got the last two. We kept battling in the final minutes. I’m proud of our boys for the way they kept battling.”

At the 26:04 mark of the second half, Landon Verhoff found the back of the net at close range to give Kalida a 1-0 lead.

Nearly 11 minutes later, Owen Grime found an opening near the net and drove the ball through to give the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage.

The Titans finally got on the scoreboard with 14:08 left to play in the contest. Jayden Kuhlman scored for O-G to cut the deficit to 1, 2-1.

Then, with 3:16 left to play, O-G’s Calix Pothast scored from near the goal to round out the scoring.

Neither team managed to get a shot off in the final three minutes of the contest.

Goal scorers

Several area boys soccer players have netted a goal in recent games:

• Luke McGuire and Coda Miller of Shawnee each scored twice in a 5-0 win over Bluffton. Caleb Miller added a goal in the Indians’ shutout victory.

• Alex Ruck scored twice in Miller City’s 5-1 win over Temple Christian. Lukas Klear and Travis Demuth added one goal apiece in the Wildcats’ victory.

• Kenton’s Micah Bowman, Cam Jesionowski and Luis Fernando each netted one goal in a 3-1 win over Allen East.

• In Ada’s 11-0 victory over Tiffin Columbian, multiple goal games were recorded by Andrew Allen (4), Nathan Williams (2), Joshua Thaxton (2) and Logan Jolliff (2). Williams and Thaxton also scored in a 2-1 win over New Knoxville.

BOYS SOCCER RESULTS AND SCHEDULE

Friday, Aug. 16

Kalida 2, Ottawa-Glandorf 2

Shawnee 5, Bluffton 0

Findlay 2, Wapakoneta 0

Ottoville 4, Lincolnview 0

Miller City 5, Temple Christian 1

Saturday, Aug. 17

Celina 2, Bryan 0

Napoleon 2, Defiance 0

Kenton 3, Allen East 1

Ada 11, Tiffin Columbian 0

Monday, Aug. 19

Celina 14, Sandusky 0

Ada 2, New Knoxville 1

Tuesday, Aug. 20

Games ended after The Lima News deadline. Find scores, game stories, photos and more on LimaScores.com.

Bath at Continental, 5 p.m.

Liberty-Benton at St. Marys, 7 p.m.

Wapakoneta at Kalida, 7 p.m.

Allen East at Temple Christian, 6 p.m.

Spencerville at Miller City, 6 p.m.

Fort Jennings at Ottoville, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 21

Bowsher at Lima Senior, 7 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 22

Bath at Ada, 7 p.m.

Archbishop Alter at Celina, 7:15 p.m.

Kalida at Defiance, 7 p.m.

Elida Fall Classic: Bluffton vs Botkins, 5 p.m.

Elida Fall Classic: Sylvania Northview at Elida, 7 p.m.

Benjamin Logan at Kenton, 7 p.m.

Ottawa-Glandorf at Continental, 5 p.m.

St. Marys at Troy, 7:15 p.m.

Miller City at Lincolnview, 7 p.m.

Fort Jennings at Cory-Rawson, 5 p.m.

Ottoville at Liberty-Benton, 7 p.m.

Spencerville at Temple Christian, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 24

New Knoxville at Celina, 11 a.m.

Lincolnview at Defiance, 6 p.m.

Elida Fall Classic Consolation, 5 p.m.

Elida Fall Classic Championship, 7 p.m.

Upper Sandusky at Kenton, 5:30 p.m.

Ottawa-Glandorf at Ottoville, 12 p.m.

Shawnee at Tippecanoe, 4 p.m.

St. Marys at Bryan, 11 a.m.

Maumee at Wapakoneta, 12 p.m.

Allen East at Ada, 5 p.m.

Bluffton at Tree of Life Christian, 2 p.m.

Continental at Delta, 12 p.m.

Otsego at Fort Jennings, 1 p.m.

Van Buren at Kalida, 1 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 26

Lima Senior at Scott, 5 p.m.

Bath at Ottoville, 5 p.m.

Kalida at Elida, 7 p.m.

Sidney at St. Marys, 7 p.m.

Wapakoneta at Jackson Center, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 27

Liberty-Benton at Bath, 7 p.m.

Shawne at St. Francis De Sales, 7 p.m.

LCC at Spencerville, 5 p.m.

Lincolnview at New Knoxville, 5 p.m.

Bryan at Continental, 5 p.m.