Redskins win playoff opener
Step one is in the books.
Wapakoneta opened its postseason journey on Monday night with a 5- 0 Division II sectional boys soccer win over Defiance in the final game of the season at Ryan Field.
The two teams had met on Oct. 8 with the Redskins taking that contest by a 4- 1 count. This time, the number of total goals was the same, but they were all by Wapakoneta.
The Redskins are now 8- 4- 3 on the season, while Defiance ends at 3- 13- 1.
“We don’t overlook anybody,” said Wapakoneta coach Keith Rambin. “We knew Defiance would work hard.”
He said he was “a lot more pleased” with Monday’s effort “because we played a full 80 minutes.”
The Redskins advance to the sectional final on Thursday. They will face top seed Shawnee. The Indians won the league title with an 8- 0 mark and are 12- 2- 1 overall on the season.
“All we can do is go out and play our best,” said Rambin. “I look forward to the opportunity.”
Wapakoneta dominated the opening minutes in terms of possession, and had a couple scoring chances.
With 28 minutes to go, Connor Coffey head a long kick toward the net, that was caught on one bounce. Shortly thereafter, Dylan Whitehead fired one from 18- feet away, which was deflected away by keeper Carter Campbell.
With 22: 45 to go, freshman Kyle Beach and sophomore Whitehead connected as they have done on a number of occasions this season, with Whitehead’s shot putting the hosts up 1- 0.
Defiance’s Vinnie Lopez was given a yellow card with 19 minutes to go.
Just over a minute later, Connor Lause took a shot from distance. Campbell couldn’t hang on to the ball, with Whitehead knocking home the rebound at 17: 44.
Defiance had a scoring chance with just under 11 minutes to go, but didn’t convert.
The Bulldogs continued to battle with a direct kick by Viktor Jurcevich going wide left with 8: 45 to play and a shot by Evan Steece two minutes later that was saved. Christian Mowery saved that shot to keep the shutout intact.
Beach had a nice chip shot with just under six minutes to go from the right side.
However, Defiance was able to clear the ball before it could be put across.
With 2: 05 to go, Kaleb Place upped the lead to three with a score. A number of other Wapakoneta players helped move the ball around quickly to thread the Bulldogs defense. At the break, the Redskins had that same 3- 0 advantage.
Defiance’s lone senior, Andrew Frederick, had a shot on goal early in the second half, with Mowery making the save.
The Redskins kept pushing, and Beach took a pass and drove down the left side of the Defiance zone. His crossing shot found the net to make it 4- 0
with 34: 27 left.
A hard shot by Whitehead with 29 minutes left was kept away by Campbell. With 14 minutes to go, each team had a scoring chance but Graham Knerr’s shot went high for the Skins, and Steece’s effort was gathered by Mowery.
The final score of the night came with 21: 34 to go, as Beach assisted and Place knocked it in.
The Redskins and Bulldogs kept the pace up well considering the cold and damp conditions, with the Redskins putting the shutout on the board.
In other sectional matches on Monday, St. Marys routed Upper Sandusky 11- 0, and Ottawa- Glandorf
blanked Van Wert 8- 0.
Match Notes
A number of fans were on hand, though reactions were fairly muted, likely due to the weather conditions.
Thursday’s games will be: # 7 Wapakoneta at # 1 Shawnee; # 8 Liberty- Benton at # 5 Elida; # 6 OttawaGlandorf at # 2 Celina; and # 4 Kenton at # 3 St. Marys. The winners will advance to the district semifinals next week at Elida.
Wapakoneta and Shawnee met on Sept. 15, with the Indians winning 4- 0.