One by one, the eight Ontario senior soccer players strolled across the field Thursday evening with their parents. As biographical information was announced for each during the pre-game, it was clear these Warriors each had diverse interests.
One thing they all have in common – they play winning soccer.
The winning continued unabated on Senior Night as Ontario, the state’s 8th-ranked Division II team, broke open a scoreless halftime tie en route to a 5-1 win against Loudonville.
Ontario raised its record to 10-1-1 and 6-0 in the United Independent Soccer Conference. Loudonville slipped to 10-4 overall and 4-3 in the UISC.
All this senior class – Meredith Remy, Alissa Tolliver, Katie Erhart, Jayde Niss, Mackenna Papst, Lindsey Virden, Emily Dinger and Chelsea Strohm – have done in the last four years is earn a trip to the Division III state title game as juniors, a spot in the Divison III regional finals as sophomores and a Division II Final Four appearance as freshmen.
“These girls are all winners,” Ontario coach Larry Atkinson said.
Winners, indeed.
On Senior Night, Atkinson started all eight of his seniors, including goalkeeper Meredith Remy (7 saves). The result was a bit of an uneven start. Ontario dominated play, but was constantly frustrated by a sticky Loudonville defense. Hence, the 0-0 halftime score.
“It was Senior Night, last home game under the lights, and our kids got caught up in the hoopla. They began trying to make perfect passes instead of just advancing the ball.”
“Plus, they kept a lot of girls back on defense, making it hard for us to penetrate,” Atkinsons said.
Loudonville coach Laurie Weber also praised her defense as much improved from earlier this season when Ontario hammered the Redbirds, 7-0.
“Our defense is playing outstanding,” she said. “That is what is glueing us together right now. We marked a couple of their players who did well against is the first time. I can’t single one of our defenders. They are all parts of the puzzle. Take one piece away and you can’t make it work.”
Ontario finally broke through just 29 seconds into the second half. Using a set play on the second-half kick, the Warriors quickly moved the ball down the field and Niss gave Ontario a 1-0 lead with still 39:21 showing on the clock.
Just over 10 minutes later, Papst found the net behind a series of good passes, putting Ontario on top 2-0 with 29:12 left in the game. Junior Allie Atkinson then scored on a direct kick with 19:46 left to play. Rachael Miller then knocked in a rebound goal with 14:19 left.
Atkinson wanted to reward his seniors for all of their efforts, including starting senior Remy in the goal. Sophomore Katherine Breech normally starts for the Warriors in goal, finishing the game with 10 saves.
Freshman Emily Weber finally got the Redbirds on the board with 4:56 left to play before Straham scored his the last night of the night to make the final score official.
Atkinson, who said this year’s Division II team is ahead of schedule from last year’s excellent season, said health is the key to another successful tournanent run. “That is the key right now,” he said. “We want to be completely healthy before the tournaments start. We have some girls trying to come back from injuries right now.”
Weber praised her team, also. “We have a young team, including a lot of great athletes in our freshmen class,” she said.
Ontario finished with a huge statistical edge. The Warriors fired 30 shots on goal and had 15 corner kicks.
Loudonville returns to the home pitch on Monday, taking on Mansfield Christian. Ontario hosts Upper Sandusky on Saturday afternoon.
