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Coldwater's Ava Smith (3) tries to get the ball away from St. Marys' Claire Turner.
ST. MARYS - Some relentless second-half pressure translated into a 4-0 St. Marys victory over Coldwater in girls soccer action Tuesday evening at Roughrider Field.
The Cavaliers (7-5) had some success playing offense early in the match, but as play dragged on St. Marys began to dominate possession. The Cavs played the last 25 minutes of the first half and the entire second half without a shot.
"The switch actually got flipped about 10 minutes into the game," St. Marys coach Lilly Ankerman said. "Coldwater came out with a lot better effort. So as far as tactical changes, that happened about 10 minutes into the first half where we moved some people around, made some changes, and we played 100% better with 100% more effort."
"We played really well in the first half," Coldwater coach Paul Dingledine said. "We possessed the ball.
"We just couldn't get a break or two when we had breakaways. And against a mediocre team we might have gotten lucky, but against a good team like this, you've got to be able to make that next pass and be able to make something off of it."
St. Marys (6-3-2) grabbed the momentum for good with a goal late in the first half. With 5:15 left until the break Jillian Jacobs found an opening in the right side of the net on a deep shot just outside the box.
Coldwater's Lanna Zahn (15) battles St. Marys' Jillian Jacobs for control of the ball.
"I say it all the time, there's a pendulum of momentum. When you score first, you go from being in the middle, playing a defensive game, to having all the momentum, and it just swings that pendulum," Ankerman said. "So going into the second half with that momentum was huge."
After coming up empty on their first five shots of the second half, the Roughriders began cashing in.
At the 27:15 mark, Ellianna Weigel made a little spin move with the ball to shake a defender, clearing the way for an open shot and a 2-0 St. Marys lead.
St. Marys' Ellianna Weigel (38) heads the ball past Coldwater keeper Alessandra Cervantes.
Exactly three minutes later Weigel picked up her second goal with a header just off the right post on a centering assist by Allison Ankerman.
Claire Turner capped the scoring with an unassisted goal with 20:11 left to play.
"In the second half, we got a little tired, and when we got tired, we kind of let down," Dingledine said. "They put it to us with three goals in about a 10-minute span or so. That was really deflating for us. But I'm proud of the girls, and they have nothing to be ashamed of. They played hard."
Both teams return to action Thursday for important league battles. The Cavaliers will put their 3-0 Western Ohio Soccer League record on the line at Botkins. The Roughriders play host to Shawnee in Western Buckeye League action.
"I told the girls they got a big league match Thursday, which is something to shoot for," Dingledine added. "We're right there tied for first right now. And it's a big game on Thursday to stay in that position."
