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The Celina girls soccer team celebrates after Brenna Korte's goal during Tuesday's game against St. Marys.
CELINA - It took just two minutes for Celina to find the back of the net Tuesday night against St. Marys, and once the team started they could not be stopped as the Bulldogs rolled to a 4-1 win over the Roughriders in the girl's soccer edition of the Battle of Grand Lake.
Brenna Korte opened the action early, as she waited for Campbelle Gass' corner kick to find her foot in the box and powered it home to get the fans in green jumping.
"Scoring early gave us a boost to get through the half. We focused on set pieces and tried to be focused on being dangerous and get something on it," said Celina coach David Hammons. "That paid off tonight, so I'm happy to see that."
St. Marys (4-1-1, 1-1), led by former St. Marys player and Celina assistant Lilly Ankerman, battled through the rest of the half to keep it at a 1-0 deficit. The 'Riders closest chance came 20 minutes into the match as a header glanced over the bar by a hair.
"Anytime you can have an assistant move to a head coaching position is a credit," said Hammons about Ankerman. "She's a great person, great coach and she's doing great things. I'm not going to say I did not want to win this one, we always want to beat St. Marys, but (St. Marys) is in good hands with Lilly."
At the break the teams finished tied with two shots on goal each, and it was actually St. Marys who took more shots at a 7-6 clip. While Celina (4-0-1, 1-0-1) had the 1-0 lead, there was still work to do as the teams came out for the second half.
While the 'Riders hunted the equalizer early in the second half, the Bulldogs kept calm and eventually earned some breathing room.
It was another cross from Gass that found Ali Hemmelgarn right in the box, and the sophomore was able to turn the ball into the bottom corner on a header to make it 2-0 seven minutes into the second half.
St. Marys' Bella Hertenstein (1) punches the ball clear against Celina.
Celina was still pushing, and Kirsten Garrity added the third goal just minutes later. A great through ball from Alexis Siefring on the wing found Garrity, who was charging toward the goal. With St. Marys keeper Belle Hertenstein running out, Garrity kept her poise and flicked the ball over the keeper's legs and into the goal with just under 30 minutes to go.
St. Marys had a response soon after in a very similar fashion. A midfield battle saw a hopeful pass from the 'Riders reach Braelyn Baker in the attack. The sophomore did not let the time she had distract her and got it past the keeper to give the visitors some hope down 3-1 with 24:37 on the clock. It was just the second goal Celina had given up on the young season.
St. Marys' Braelyn Baker gets ready to shoot against Celina. She scored on the play.
After St. Marys kept the pressure up, Celina put it on simmer as Hemmelgarn struck again. With the help of a miscommunication at the 'Riders back line, Celina's No. 7 kept up with the ball and used it to her advantage to give her team a 4-1 lead with 17 minutes to go.
That was all for the scoring, as Celina was able to celebrate its first win over their fierce rivals since their 2-1 postseason opener in 2017. It is also the first time St. Marys had not beaten Celina since 2019, when the two teams tied 1-1.
Hemmelgarn finished with two goals while Gass had two assists for Celina. Next for the Bulldogs is a non-conference home matchup with Carroll on Sept. 10, before WBL play resumes on Sept. 17 on the road at Shawnee.
"Ali's been a playmaker so far, she's really starting to come into her own," said Hammons. "We're starting to see that confidence with the other girls as well. We have great leadership so that's helped set the culture for us."
St. Marys will look to rebound on Sept. 14 back home against Defiance.
