PHOTOS BY RACHEL NAGEL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
TOP SEED MOVING ON … Adrianna Dunning controls the ball in front of an Ottawa Hills defender on Monday night in a Division IV district semifinal. VIEW PHOTOS OF BOTH CONTESTS FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (October 21, 2024) Historically the “shot heard round the world” illustrates the colonists’ determination to create a new nation back in 1775.
Evergreen freshman Lyla Radel used the same connotation to decorate the Vikings into the Division 5 District soccer final with a bullet from the right side of the net late in the second half, that pierced the heart of the Archbold Bluestreaks and gave Evergreen a 2-1 upset win over the higher rated Streaks in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Pifer Field.
In the first contest, top-seeded Delta spotted Ottawa Hills a fluke goal in the first half, then snapped off three straight scores in a 3-1 triumph to also reach the district final Thursday.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Viking coach Jacob Ott explained. “Obviously it was a big game, we were big underdogs, and they don’t like to lose.
Radel had an early chance just 10 minutes into the game when she tracked down an up field pass only to be stopped by Streak netminder Vivi Legato.
Klaire Kern had Archbold’s first decent try 10 minutes later from deep in the corner, only to have her shot speared by Ellie Nash.
Legato came up big again with 12 to go in the first, when after Kara Huntzinger’s header was blocked, Legato made a diving save on Radel’s rebound try to keep the game scoreless.
Archbold used that momentum to break the ice at the 7:32 mark when Jade Frey weaved through the defense and punched a shot into the right side of the net to give Archbold a 1-0 advantage.
Neither team did much the rest of the way until when less than 10 seconds left, Archbold was called for a foul, giving Radel a free kick from the left of the net, deep in Archbold’s zone.
Her kick went across the goal mouth to the far side of the net where Huntzinger came charged in and chested the ball into the goal to knot the match with just three ticks on the clock.
“It was huge because the mindset going into halftime was extremely high,” Ott said. “You could tell the difference in our level of play from the first half to the second half. It was at another level, because like I said after the last game, we need one goal to set us off.”
Frey had two more chances in the second half, one a rifle shot off the post from a sharp angle and the other a drive that Nash snared.
High scoring Addy Gleckler had one good attempt in the second for the Vikings, but her shot from the right side was tipped away by Legato.
Finally with under eight to go, the Vikings had a throw in from the right sideline. Annabelle Abec’s toss was right to Radel, who after being taken down by an Archbold defender, regained her footing and fired a missile that went through the goalie for a score with 7:30 left to give the Vikings the lead.
“I didn’t think she was going to shoot it; I thought she was looking for the cross,” said Ott. “But that kid isn’t afraid to shoot it, and she put one on frame. We just need a few chances, and we can take advantage of them.”
The Vikings back line led by Brooklyn Spradlin and Lydia Gleckler didn’t allow the Streaks to organize anything offensively the rest of the way as the Vikings earned their first District final berth in their short soccer history.
“We really focused on making sure we had big clears,” Ott said of the Streaks limited chances. “That’s what killed us when we played them in the regular season.” The Vikings raise their record to 12-5-2 while Archbold bows out at 10-6-1.
In the opener, Delta used superior speed to make them look like the speedy hare and Ottawa Hills seem tortoise-like slow, to rebound from an early 1-0 deficit to take a two-goal win.
Maeve Mackey working the center of the field from about the 20-yard line, took a shot with 16:30 left in the first half, that Panther goalie Ryllie Taylor acted as if the shot was going wide.
Rather than wide, the ball tucked into the side of the net for a 1-0 Bear lead. It took less than four minutes for Delta to retaliate.
Skylar Boulton dropped a pass to Adrianna Dunning who fired a left-footed shot that goalie Sophie VanSlooten seemed to stop but suddenly the ball appeared behind her and rolled into the net to knot the contest at 1-1, that stayed that way into halftime.
“Both of those were probably lucky goals,” Panther coach Paige Triana said. “We played them before, and it seemed as if we struggled to break their back line to, we tried a couple things and changed some things around and kept the ball wide.”
Five minutes into the second, the Panthers took the lead for good. Dunning pitched a pass up field to fleet Josephine Maurer who split the defense as if they were statues and went opposite the movement of the goalie to make it 2-1.
“We stayed outside and got the ball in the middle to bring it forward,” Triana explained. “And we have a couple of freshmen on the scene that are so fast. We tell them to fly and that was a good goal for Josey.”
The Bears never got a good scoring chance again, and the Panthers put the game away with just under 20 minutes left.
Aryha Dunning got a shot off right of the goal that VanSlooten made the initial save, a second shot try was blocked but Myah Dalton-Keener controlled the third chance try and nailed a shot into the left side for a clinching goal.
“We preached all week, please, please, crash the net,” Triana said explaining the final goal. “There have been opportunities that we have lost out on because we didn’t do that.”
“Finally, some of the things we have been preaching are now coming into effect. I’m proud of them, there’s things we have to grow on and tighten up, but we are moving on.”
The Panthers are now 13-3-2 on the year. Ottawa Hills finishes 11-4-2.
NWOAL RIVALS … Evergreen’s Alivia Mitchey and Archbold’s Blaney Huffman pursue the ball in Monday night’s district semifinal at Evergreen.