WAPAKONETA — St. John’s was playing its fourth girls soccer matchup in seven days Saturday morning/afternoon.
Throw in the speed and athleticism of Wapakoneta’s unit and one can guess the outcome: the Lady Redskins took a 3-0 triumph on the wet grounds of Ryan Field at Wapak High School.
“You don’t want to use fatigue as an excuse but four games in seven days is a lot, especially when we’re down two players: seniors Lindsey Looser (ankle) and Alicia Hempfling (foot). The girls gave 100 percent but there wasn’t a lot in the tank,” Lady Blue Jay coach Jodi Hoersten began. “We held them off the first half but we simply wore down as the game went on. They have a lot of speed up front and that caused us trouble all day.”
So much so that the Lady Redskins (5-3-1) outshot the Blue and Gold (3-4-1) 21-9.
“Our girls work well together,” Redskin coach Mindy Erb said. “We have a solid offense with our speed up front and a solid defense with some physical girls. We made it tough for them to get good shots and we can afford to be very aggressive on the attack.”
The Jays had the first great chance with a flurry at 37:32 of the first half. Senior Tori Recker’s 20-yard shot from the left wing hit the cross bar and stayed alive. The Jays had two more chances on the ricochet; one a defender deflected away and the second a shot over the top.
From that point on, it was all Wapak. They attacked with the likes of Cassie Schwartz, Megan Kremer, Stephanie Erb, Kelly Faller and Becca Peachey but Blue Jay sophomore netminder Samantha Stant was brilliant in goal, registering 16 saves, 11 in the first half (13 shots).
She made a superb save at 28:29 on an 18-yarder by Peachey. At 13:34, she deflected a 10-yard blast by Erb; she threw the orb out of danger before it crossed the goal line.
“Samantha kept us in the game in the first half,” Hoersten added. “She had an excellent game but they just kept coming at her. They scored all their goals in a 20-minute span of the second half.”
That the Redskins did. The first was at 31:16: Erb set it up with a pass out of the middle to Faller on the left wing, who was all alone from 14 yards; her shot found the right side and a 1-0 lead.
Recker tried to retaliate with a free kick from just outside the box at 28:20 but her shot went over the top.
Wapak made it 2-0 at 27:06. This time, Erb’s cross from the right side found the foot of Peachey at 8 yards; her shot went from middle to the right of the cords.
At 13:41, Wapak tacked on the last tally. A Schwartz through ball found the speedy Faller for a 1-on-1 opening down the center. her 10-yarder found the right side of the twine.
Recker tried to get the Lady Jays on board but her shot from the top of the semi-circle was stopped by goalkeeper Christy Steinke (4 saves).
The Redskins only played one sub off the bench.
“These girls are ironwomen,” coach Erb added. “We work hard on our core in the weight room and spend a lot of time in the offseason on conditioning. We’re strong and in shape.”
The Jays visit Kalida and Wapak is at Toledo Central Catholic 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Wapak won the JV matchup 3-2.