Poling nets 3 goals; new Bulldog program record set for wins, individual marks
By Cort Reynolds
The Ada High School girls soccer team netted three goals in the first five minutes and went on to post a 5-0 win over visiting Galion in sectional first round play Tuesday evening, October 17, at War Memorial Stadium.
Ada broke the school record for wins in a season with their eighth victory, which improved their mark to 8-6-3 overall and clinched the second winning season in program annals.
It is the first winning campaign for Bulldog girls soccer in over 20 years.
Galion finished 4-11-2 after the defeat.
The Bulldog girls advance to visit top seed Van Buren (11-3-2) Thursday, Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. Ada lost at home to the NCOSA runner-up Black Knights by a 3-0 score on Oct. 4.
“This win is a great way to celebrate this team and what they have done,” said Ada second-year head coach Doug Dewese. “It has been a long time since a tournament win for Ada, and we also got a shutout and set a bunch of program and individual records.
“All 20 available players got to see the field also, which is super in tournament play,” he added. “This group of girls are special, that’s for sure. Lexi put in the hat trick, Jenna got some great assists and Katie finally earned that shutout she has been hunting for.
“And Olivia and Ella set some records, it was just a great night,” he continued.
The first half was played under sunny, 55-degree conditions.
Ada junior Lexi Poling scored the first goal very early to put the hosts on top 1-0. Senior Ella Marshall netted the second goal at the 35:58 mark, followed about a minute later by an Olivia Burkhart goal.
Ada had other chances to add to their lead in the half but couldn’t quite finish.
Marshall fired a shot on goal that the Galion keeper bobbled but finally controlled at the 33-minute mark. Burkhart put a shot on goal at the 23:16 juncture.
Bulldog senior keeper Katie Sizemore made a diving save with 22:47 to go in the half. Galion had a direct kick at the 16:33 point which was saved.
Bulldog sophomore Alex Gibson booted a nice right corner kick with 7:40 left, but Ada couldn’t punch it in.
A nice Burkhart pass led to a good save by the Tiger keeper at 5:33, and Karmen Hall’s rebound shot seven ticks later was also saved.
Sizemore saved a shot at the 2:02 juncture. Poling almost scored again with 69 seconds left off another good ball from Burkhart, but the score stayed 3-0 to intermission.
Ada struck quickly in half two as the weather cooled. A fine feed by Marshall set up Poling, who left-footed a shot into the net from six yards out just 1:21 into the second half to extend their lead to 4-0.
Sizemore saved a rolling shot with 37:49 left. About 2:38 later Sizemore made a nice save. A Tiger penalty kick shot at the 33:34 mark sailed over the middle of the cross bar and clanged off the football goal post.
A shot on goal by Bulldog speedster Jordyn Smith was saved at the 32:34 mark.
Ada then tallied its last goal. Marshall sent a good ball from the right side to Burkhart, whose shot was blocked to the side. But Poling was standing on the doorstep at the left end of the goal and put the rebound shot in the back of the net from two yards out to provide a 5-0 cushion with 28:50 left to play.
At the 27:11 point, Gibson sent a good corner kick through the box that wasn’t knocked in. Only 46 seconds later, a fine Burkhart pass to Marshall resulted in a good shot that the Galion keeper made a nice save on.
A Tiger direct kick out at the 22:44 mark was saved by Sizemore. Marshall’s shot at the 22:10 juncture was deflected out of play by the Galion keeper.
On the ensuing corner kick the Tiger goalie made a nice leaping, one-handed deflection save.
Ada earned one last corner kick at the 12:40 mark. Exactly one minute later, Gibson fired a direct kick from 29 yards out that was nicely saved by the busy Tiger keeper.
Poling ended up with three goals to give her 10 on the season, while Marshall netted a goal and passed out two assists.
Burkhart tallied her 11th goal and doled out one assist, her seventh. Senior Jenna Rodrigues dished out a pair of assists.
Sizemore recorded eight saves in goal and posted her fourth shutout of the season to break the program mark for most clean sheets in a season. She also tied the program record for career shutouts of six set by Andrea Brown in 2001.
Burkhart broke the girls school record for career assists with 23, surpassing the mark previously shared by her and Ella Poling.
Marshall also tied Burkhart’s season mark for assists with 13, a record her senior teammate set in 2022. She has 22 goals this season.
Galion got off 13 shots, six of which were on goal.
“I was so happy to have this group, this team, our eight seniors defend their home turf one last time, so I am all smiles tonight,” said Dewese. “Now it is on to Van Buren to try and keep our season going.
“Van Buren is a good team,” said Dewese. “You don’t get the first seed without beating a talented team. However, our tournament bracket is full of great teams who can all compete with each other.
“We beat Upper Sandusky, tied Riverdale and beat Cory-Rawson,” he noted. “And we were within two goals of Bluffton, and one goal of Allen East.
“If we show up and play hard, we will give Van Buren a run for their money and maybe upset a number one seed,” he added.
