By Cort Reynolds
Playing at home, the Ada High School girls soccer team jumped to a big lead and defeated Allen East 5-2 on Saturday, August 24.
Ada improved to 4-0 with the win, while AE is 0-1 after losing its opener.
Bulldog senior Lexi Poling netted three first half goals to pace Ada to a 4-0 halftime cushion. The Mustang girls cut the deficit in half with two goals in the first 14 minutes of half two, but could get no closer.
AE senior ace Rilynn Jones was limited to one goal in the second half. Teammate Rylie Jordan tallied the other Mustang score.
“This was a special game for us,” said Bulldog head coach Doug Dewese. “Allen East is obviously a rivalry game with our close proximity, and the last two years have been heartbreaking losses for the Ada girls (to AE).
“I kept telling the girls that we had a job to do, and they put a ton of hard work in,” he continued. “I told them to finish the job at halftime. I am very proud of all the effort they put in.”
A shot by Jones was deflected 38 seconds into the fray.
Bulldog Alex Gibson launched two corner kicks off within 28 seconds but Ada couldn’t score. Jones launched a corner kick that ended up in a save by Emily Gibson.
Jordan got off a right side shot that was deflected out of bounds. Jones had another corner kick at the 31:48 mark.
Her next corner three minutes later resulted in a Dylan Miller shot that went wide right with 28:11 left in the first half. Jones lifted another shot on goal, but Emily Gibson made a nice save at the 24:33 mark.
Ada then began to dominate play. Freshman Rose Baxter scored from about 11 yards out off a Kenley Poling assist at the 23:33 mark to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Freshman Emily Shanks unleashed a long high shot that the AE keeper bobbled. But she was able to recover the ball just before it rolled over the goal line with 21:48 to go.
A Jones direct kick was on line but saved by Gibson a minute later. She then unleashed a long shot that Gibson stopped 94 seconds later.
A scrum in front of the Mustang net eventually led to the second Ada goal. AE tried to clear the ball but Shanks hammered a long straight-on shot that was deflected by the keeper out to Lexi Poling, who knocked in the rebound shot with 17:05 left in the half to provide a 2-0 lead.
Alex Gibson then did a good job stopping Jones one v. one at around the 30-yard mark. Jordan blasted a long drive that Emily Gibson knocked down and secured at the 14:16 mark.
AE keeper Sierra Studer came off her line and made a nice sliding save with an Ada attacker bearing down on her with 12:28 left.
Baxter fired a shot on goal that was saved at the 9:04 juncture.
Lexi Poling was again well-positioned to pick up a ricochet ball off the foot of Baxter, and she drilled it into the net from about nine yards out for a 3-0 Ada lead with 7:30 to go.
At the 5:27 mark, Poling made a nice crossover move and blasted a shot past the keeper for her third goal in 12 minutes to give Ada a 4-0 cushion.
A Baxter shot went just wide with eight seconds left in the half, and the Bulldogs took that four-goal margin to intermission.
Shanks got a good shot off 15 seconds into half two, but it was saved. AE launched a shot over the goal at the 34:40 mark. Jordan then sped up the right side and launched a 25-yard shot into the net with 30:28 remaining for the first AE goal.
Ada’s Emma Lambdin launched a long shot that was saved at the 26:44 juncture.
Jones then scurried up the right side and found the far side of the net from about 27 yards out near the corner to cut the Ada lead in half at 4-2 with 26:28 still left.
At the 24:03 point, Jones threatened to slice the lead to one when her left-footed drive banged off the crossbar and went down to the turf.
“Rilynn showed her skill with an unbelievable goal from the corner, but we kept her in check and just took care of business with putting the ball in the net and keeping the game out of reach,” said Dewese.
Ada then stopped the Mustang momentum when junior Alex Gibson one-timed a midair touch goal over the head of Studer into the net with 21:45 left to restore the lead to three at 5-2.
Jones created a counter off an Ada corner kick, but the speedster’s rolling shot was easily gobbled up by Gibson with 11:50 remaining.
Baxter’s right side shot curled just outside the far post with 11:19 left to play. A shot by freshman Avary Acheson was bobbled but grabbed by Studer with 9:04 to go.
A left side shot by Shanks was saved at the 8:39 point. Jones got off one more shot from the left side with 3:15 to go, but it was stopped again.
Bulldog freshman Emily Gibson saved 14 of the 16 AE shots. Ada got 17 shots off and Studer saved 12.
“We knew Rilynn was going to be a problem, but I decided to not single her out with any specific man-marking,” said Dewese. “Instead, the girls were told to shut everyone else down and prevent them from getting her the ball.”
The strategy worked well.
Poling netted her first hat trick, while Baxter contributed a goal and two assists. Shanks and Kenley Poling dished out an assist apiece.
Ada visits former NWC foe Delphos Jefferson (1-1) Thursday, August 29.
