(PHOTO PROVIDED)
By: Joe Blystone
DELTA (October 19, 2023) – “It Was A Dark And Stormy Night..” So read the first line every time Snoopy tried to write his story in the old “Peanuts” comic strip.
Except when Delta and Archbold hooked up for a Division III sectional soccer match, it WAS a dark and stormy night as the wind, rain, and low hanging clouds made it almost impossible to see by game’s end.
The one light that glowed was the Panthers Ella Demaline as she nailed the back of the net once in each half, accounting for all the scoring in Delta’s 2-0 shutout of the Streaks, to send the Panthers to the district tournament at Evergreen.
“We kind of controlled the game in the second half and put the nail in the coffin as we like to say,” Delta coach Paige Triana expressed after the match. “This is definitely a great win for us and we are really happy for the girls.”
Prime chances were few and far between in the adverse conditions, but Delta struck going into the wind at the 26:28 mark of the first half.
From 20 yards out left of the net, Demaline lofted a shot that bounced and curved against the wind, then bent right to left over goalie Maddie Short for the first score of the contest.
“It was a great strike outside the 18,” Triana exclaimed of the first score. “We were really, really proud of her and the way our girls played tonight.”
Archbold maybe had their best chance of the night four minutes later, but Briena Partin’s shot from left of goalie Ryllie Taylor rattled off the crossbar.
That 1-0 margin stayed in pause mode deep into the second half. Delta had an indirect free kick chance seven minutes into the last 40 from point blank in front of the net but Short batted the attempt away.
Grace Munger had a try from about 30 yards out with just under 20 minutes to go and again Short speared the shot to keep the score at 1-0.
With 15:02 on the clock, Demaline nailed the clincher. A Delta pass was tipped but not controlled by an Archbold defender and when the ball went toward Demaline, the senior forward ripped a crossing bullet from left to right in the net for her second goal of the night.
Chaina Nafziger had one last chance to put Archbold on the board, but her shot from the left of the net with eight to go was cradled by Taylor to preserve the shutout.
“We switched our formation this year and we have three juniors in the back, and I believe in those three back there and are strong defenders,” Triana explained of Archbold’s limited attempts.
Taylor had five saves on the night while Short was credited with 10.
Delta will now face Evergreen (15-1-2) in a Division III district semifinal October 24th at Evergreen High School.
Archbold (9-6-2) – Saves: Maddie Short 10
Delta (12-4-1) – Goals- Ella Demaline; Saves: Ryllie Taylor 5
Joe can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com