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St. Marys' Connor Rust (3) battles Ottawa-Glandorf's Ross Maag for possession of the ball during Monday's WBL soccer match at Roughrider Field.
ST. MARYS - Braden Keller picked up a hat trick and St. Marys notched its sixth straight win with a 6-0 shutout of Ottawa-Glandorf on Monday night at Roughrider Field.
The Titans appeared to be a step behind from the get-go, as the Riders spent much of the first half on offense. Freshman Brady Dingledine got the scoring started with his first varsity goal, assisted by Bradey Triplett, seven minutes into the match.
St. Marys out-shot O-G 10-4 in the first half, but did not start to pull away until Keller registered back-to-back goals late in the half.
St. Marys' Brady Dingledine (14) is greeted by Bradey Triplett after scoring a goal. Triplett also had a goal in the Roughriders' 6-0 win over Ottawa-Glandorf.
At the 3:01 mark Keller cleaned up a rebound, and then 31 seconds later, intercepted a pass and scored from just outside the box for a 3-0 lead at the break.
"We try to play at a fast pace. We pride ourselves in having and extra gear," St. Marys coach James Holtzapple said. "The boys stepped out there from the first whistle tonight and stepped into that gear. It took us a little while to find the net again, which has sort of been our signature, but I'm really proud of them."
The Riders improved to 3-1 in the Western Buckeye League and 7-4 overall. The Titans slipped to 2-2 and 4-5-1.
It didn't take Keller long after intermission to claim his hat trick. He stepped in front of a wayward goal kick, and found a clear path to the goal, and buried a shot just 93 seconds into the second half.
Triplett scored on a breakaway with 21:14 left in the match and Izaiah Fast rounded out the scoring when he found the back of the net on a rebound with 17:56 left to play.
The Riders started many of their scoring opportunities with takeaways on the offensive side of the field.
"We want to win balls midfield and up," Holtzapple said. "If we win those balls and transition to the attack right away, it keeps the other team on their heels. And tonight I thought we did a very nice job of that."
St. Marys' Rowan Verbryke (23) battles Ottawa-Glandorf's Gavin Morman for the ball.
After starting the season at 1-4, the Roughriders have now reeled off six consecutive wins.
"I attribute that to the boys," Holtzapple said. "I spent the first five games wracking my head, and trying to figure what to do, and then we all had a conversation. Soccer is so odd in the sense that, more than any other sport, it's so fluid, and I have to listen to the boys, and when I listen to them, things make a little more sense. They're the ones playing the game."
St. Marys will be back in action traveling to league-leading Shawnee on Sept. 24.
