Ada frosh Charliegh Entinghe gets the ball away from two Tornadoes.
By Cort Reynolds
In its season opener, the Ada High School girls varsity soccer team enjoyed a big second half and beat visiting Tiffin Columbian 3-2 on August 17.
Ada trailed 1-0 at halftime after an own goal, but netted two goals in the first seven minutes of the second half to take the lead.
The Bulldog girls extended the lead to 3-1 on an impressive corner kick goal by Alex Gibson with 7:49 remaining.
The Tornadoes answered with a goal just 13 seconds later to cut the deficit to 3-2. But the Ada defense staved Tiffin off the rest of the way to hang on for the victory.
“It was a good night overall,” said Ada head coach Doug Dewese. “We dominated play, but struggled to find the back of the net. I was very impressed with our possession play, and the ability of our young team to maintain composure.”
Ada senior Lexi Poling pounced on a loose ball that got past TC keeper Adelyn Morgan and knocked it into the net to tie the match 1-1 with 36:24 left.
At the 33:36 mark, another loose ball in front of the net got past Morgan, and sophomore Kenley Poling touched it in for a 2-1 lead.
Gibson had a corner kick at the 32:11 juncture but Ada couldn’t capitalize. Freshman Emily Gibson saved a long shot with 30:02 left.
Freshman Avary Acheson fashioned a nice foot-catch touch of a long ball at the 24-minute mark. Gibson made a save 30 seconds later.
The Bulldogs had a good scoring opportunity on a cross negated by off sides with 22:55 to go.
Gibson came up with a save with 19:24 left. Tornado keeper Morgan made a nice save 23 ticks later. With 14 minutes left, a long direct kick by Alex Gibson was right on goal but saved by Morgan.
Acheson booted a corner kick with 13 minutes left, then got off a shot that sailed wide right six ticks later.
Lexi Poling’s right side shot with 11 minutes remaining was on goal but saved. Ada freshman Rose Baxter then came up with some nifty footwork along the left side to help set up a shot on goal by freshman Charliegh Entinghe, but it was stopped by Morgan with 9:30 to play.
Gibson came up with another save 37 seconds later. A Baxter shot went wide left with 8:28 left, followed by a Gibson corner kick shortly thereafter. Her corner boot curled into the far side of the net to give Ada a two-goal cushion at 3-1.
Ada relaxed a bit and TC answered right back just seconds later. Tornado Morgan Roach executed a nice move to fire from about 18 yards out and past the sliding Emily Gibson in goal.
Another Gibson corner kick was headed away by a Tornado defender at the six-minute mark.
About 35 seconds later a nice touch pass by junior Alyssa Nau led Keney Poling into a left side shot which was saved. Another Gibson corner at the 4:26 juncture came up dry.
Poling appeared to score again with 1:55 when Morgan whiffed on a loose ball in front of the net, but the goal was nullified by an offsides ruling.
With 50 seconds left, quick sophomore Reese Jordan lofted a good long ball up the left side to Kenley Poling, whose ensuing shot was grabbed by Morgan.
Entinghe collided in the final seconds with a Tornado player as TC desperately tried to get a tying shot off. A 35-yard launch was booted with a second left, but Emily Gibson easily corralled it as time expired to preserve the win.
Ada out-shot TC, 18-8. Gibson made seven saves in goal. Tornado keeper Morgan was credited with 13 saves. Kenley Poling and Baxter dished out one assist apiece.
“A lot of new freshmen had great nights, and our upperclassmen led them well, especially from a 1-0 deficit in the first half,” Dewese summed up. “Tiffin is a good team so getting an opening night win against them was a good jump-off point for the season.”
Ada hosts former Northwest Conference foe Crestview Monday, Aug. 19 at 5 p.m. The Bulldogs visit Ft. Jennings Thursday, then host local rival Allen East in the Mustang opener Saturday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m.
