ASHLAND — The wind howled, the temperature dipped and Ontario earned a measure of revenge.
Playing with the wind at their backs, the Warriors scored three second-half goals for a 3-0 win over Richland County rival Clear Fork in a Division II district championship match at Ashland’s Community Stadium.
Ontario (15-2-2) will play Rocky River (18-0-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Sandusky High School in the regional semifinals. Rocky River beat Parma Heights Holy Name 1-0 on Thursday to advance.
The Warriors avenged a 1-0 loss to the Colts (13-4-1) in the regular season finale two weeks ago.
“It’s just always going to be a hard match with them,” said senior midfielder Jayde Niss, who broke the ice with 35:52 remaining in the second half. “It was just a good cross and I was there at the right time to finish.”
Niss’s goal opened the flood gates as the Warriors took full advantage of a strong wind out of the southwest. Five of Ontario’s seven shots on goal came in the second half. Three found the back of the net.
“It was a major difference,” said senior forward Mackenna Papst, whose header off an Allie Atkinson corner kick gave the Warriors a 2-0 advantage with 17:22 remaining. “We knew we had the advantage in the second half knowing it was still tied 0-0. The wind just helped us move even though we were tired.
“Allie can place those corner kicks perfectly. She made a perfect placement and I was able to finish it.”
Papst’s goal allowed the Warriors, ranked 10th in the final Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association state poll, to pack it in against the ninth-ranked Colts.
“(The second goal) let us breath a little easier,” Ontario coach Larry Atkinson said. “Even 1-0 is a great lead in tournament games because we play a little bit more defensive.
“We’re very good on free kicks and corner kicks and we got two goals off corner kicks. That’s big for us.”
Ontario’s final goal came off another set piece. Sophomore forward Madison Papst scored with 9:13 to go to all but seal the victory.
“It’s just the funny thing about the game. Sometimes the luck rolls your way and sometimes it doesn’t,” Clear Fork coach Brittany Bechtel said. “We had opportunities as much as they did. They were able to capitalize on theirs and finish them.”
Clear Fork outshot Ontario 10-7. The Colts unloaded on Ontario keeper Katherine Beech in the first half, taking seven shots. Beech had four saves.
“She is a very good keeper,” Atkinson said. “She is a true goal keeper. She works harder in warm-ups and in practice than kids do in games. She did an excellent job.”
Atkinson agreed with Clear Fork’s decision to play with the wind at its back during the first half.
“They elected to go with the wind in the first half and if we had won the toss we would have done the same thing because you want to try to get any advantage (by) scoring early,” Atkinson said. “It affects the players more than it does the ball because you have to breath running into the wind. It’s hard running into the wind because you’ve got your mouth open and it just suffocates your lungs. The girls were complaining about that at halftime.
“I thought if we could be even, we could maybe pull something off in the second half.”
Ontario’s first goal lit a fire underneath the Colts, Bechtel said.
“We played some of our best soccer after that first goal,” Bechtel said. “The second one fell in the net and a little bit of our hope and desire fell with it.”
The Colts lost eight starters off last year’s regional runner-up team.
“I’m very proud of these girls. They’ve come a long way,” Bechtel said. “I’m very proud of the efforts they gave all year long until the final game.”
In boys action, Mansfield Christian punched its ticket to the regional tournament for the fourth straight year with a 2-0 win over Findlay Liberty-Benton in the Division III Tiffin district championship game.
Sophomore Samuel Paul scored midway through the first half and fellow sophomore David Cochran added an insurance goal with 5:55 to play in the first half. Junior Brendan Ernsberger had an assist.
“We scored early, but that didn’t really change our philosophy in the second half,” MCS coach Jesse Rider said. “We wanted to hold onto the ball and make Liberty-Benton chase us around.
“There was a 10-minute span in the second half where we were a little frustrated, but we settled down.”
MCS (18-1) will play Elyria Catholic at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Ashland’s Community Stadium. Elyria Catholic beat Rocky River Lutheran West 5-0 Saturday. Mansfield Christian was second in Division III in the final Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association state poll, while Elyria Catholic was third.
“We don’t know a lot about them, but I’m sure they are a great team,” Rider said. “We want to continue to play our style.”
Meanwhile, Clear Fork fell to Norwalk in a sudden death shootout in the Division II Clyde district final. The Colts and Truckers were tied 1-1 after regulation and both overtime sessions and again after the first round of the shootout, sending the match into a sudden death shootout.
Clear Fork (14-2-4) outshot Norwalk 17-4.
“I thought we outplayed them,” Clear Fork coach Brian Kinnard said. “We had some opportunities, we were just never able to get one in the back of the net.
“Soccer is a game where you can win every stat imaginable and still lose the game. That was the story for us today.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
“We knew we had the advantage in the second half knowing it was still tied 0-0. The wind just helped us move even though we were tired. Allie can place those corner kicks perfectly. She made a perfect placement and I was able to finish it,” said Ontario’s Mackenna Papst.
