BOYS SOCCER DISTRICT SEMIFINALS: O-G slips past Ottoville; Titans advance to district finals

  By MARK ALTSTAETTER
sports@limanews.com 419-993-2085


    KALIDA — Having plenty of depth and experience can never be a negative thing.
    Those two traits came to the forefront in Ottawa-Glandorf’s hard-fought 2-0 victory over Ottoville in Monday’s boys soccer Division III district semifinal match at Kalida.
    With the win, O-G (12-3-3) will play the Temple Christian-New Knoxville winner in a district final at 2 p.m. Saturday at Shawnee.
    The Titans, who boast a total of 10 seniors on their roster, utilized their depth to defeat a youthful Ottoville squad, which has just two seniors.
    Ottoville (10-8-1) made O-G work, however, limiting the Titans to just six shots on goal. The Big Green, on the offensive end, took six shots as well.
    The difference, according to Ottoville coach Eric Gerker, was the experience and speed of O-G.
    “There were some things that we did, offensively,” Gerker said. “But, as the game went on, I thought fatigue started to set in at some point.”
    O-G did not get on the scoreboard until the seven-minute, foursecond mark of the first half. Andrew Trentkamp took a nice feed from Zack Klausing inside the box and pushed it past Ottoville goalkeeper Kyle Kroeger.
    The Titans’ second goal came at the 11:10 mark of the second half, on a shot by Matt Kaufman, off a nice pass from Brian Michel.
    O-G coach Mike Weihrauch said his game plan was to keep fresh legs in the game in hopes of wearing down Ottoville.
    “That was our goal, to come in and run and try to create opportunities with our speed,” Weihrauch said. “(But) It was 12 to 14 minutes in, before we were able to get it going.”
    In the first half, the Big Green took a total of four shots on goal, with three of those shots coming from Scottie Pohlman. Pohlman’s shots all came within the first 10 minutes of the first half.
    “We had to weather the storm there in the first half,” Weihrauch said. “We then were able to get some more speed in the middle of the field. Once we did, it (momentum) turned over in our favor.”
    Gerker said his team’s postseason performance is something it can build on for the future.
    “We’re a youthful team,” Gerker said. “For the guys to get this far, with two seniors on the team, is a great measuring tool for next year.”