BELLVILLE — Ontario’s Hattie Yugovich continues to play beyond her years.
A freshman midfielder, Yugovich scored a pair of second-half goals as the Warriors knocked off cross-county rival Clear Fork in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action Tuesday night at the Colt Corral.
Yugovich has a team-best 15 goals on the season for the Warriors (8-1, 3-0).
“I just came in … and hoped that I would help the team,” Yugovich said. “It’s crazy.”
The Warriors got on the board in the ninth minute when Yugovich’s shot on goal deflected off Clear Fork goalkeeper Renee Anders and ended up at the foot of Elaina Seif. The sophomore forward tapped a left-footed shot past Anders for a 1-0 edge.
The score remained that way until midway through the second half when Seif threaded the needle and found Yugovich along the left flank. Yugovich took care of the rest, sending a right-footed shot into the lower left corner of the goal for a 2-0 lead with 23:12 remaining in the game.
Her second goal came 19 minutes later when she unloaded from 35 yards away, just sneaking over the keeper’s fingertips.
“I saw that she was out a little bit and just decided why not go for it?” Yugovich said. “I was pretty happy. I was not expecting it to go in but it did.”
The loss was the first of the season for the Colts (6-1-2, 2-1-0). Clear Fork has played the season without high-scoring forward Kendall Windsor, who injured her knee just minutes into the season opener against Madison.
“We just struggle to put it in the back of the net,” Clear Fork coach Brittany Bechtel said. “We’re talking lots of shots and we’ve got nothing to show for it.”
The Warriors have four shutouts in the past five matches.
“Our defense has improved each game,” veteran Ontario coach Larry Atkinson said. “That’s all where trying to do is (have the defense) keep us in games because offensively we’re not sure, with the young talent we have, if we’re going to be successful at the offensive end.
“If we can at least keep the other team out of the goal, then I think we’re in pretty good shape.”
