By MIKE WRASMAN
The Delphos Herald

FORT JENNINGS — The Elida Lady Bulldogs whitewashed the Lady Musketeers of Fort Jennings 4-0 in a girls soccer upset at the Keith Hamel Memorial Field in Fort Jennings Saturday morning.
Erin Thomas notched a hat trick for Elida.
“Erin Thomas got up front today,” Lady Dawg coach Matt Albright commented.
The Lady ’Dawgs dominated the first half, allowing the Lady Musketeers one shot-on-goal; goaltender Kaitlyn Morrisey saved that attempt.
“Elida’s got a heck of a defense,” Fort Jennings coach Rodney Wagner explained. “We only got one shot in the first half.”
Elida had five first-half shots; Jennings’ goalkeeper Megan Schimmoeller notched one save.
“Our midfielders and defenders did a good job today,” Albright noted. “Fort Jennings was well defended by our midfielders and defenders. We’ve been experimenting with setting up for tournament.”
Thomas opened the scoring early in the first half to give Elida a 1-0 lead.
She got her second goal with 7:58 left in the first and put the guests up 2-0.
At the 5:16 mark of the opening half, the Lady ’Dawgs struck again when Kayla Nolan goaled to give the Allen County guests a 3-0 halftime advantage.
“We were down 3-0 after the first half, so we played everyone,” Wagner observed.
In the second half, Elida’s defenders and midfielders basically kept Fort Jennings away from the goal. The hosts just were not able to get the ball into scoring position, as evidenced by the fact that they shot just seven times on goal in the last 40 minutes. Morrisey notched five second-half saves.
“We’re getting better on defense,” Albright added. “We’re playing three sophomores and a junior on defense. We’re a young team.”
Schimmoeller got six second-half saves for the Lady Musketeers (eight Elida attempts); the Elida squad kept beating the hostesses to the ball.
“We came out flat,” Wagner concluded. “I guess we are not a morning team. We just were flat.”
Elida (7-8-1) will journey to Findlay to do battle with Wapakoneta in the Division I sectional at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Fort Jennings (10-4-2) travels to Ottoville tonight to contend with Crestview at 7:15 p.m. in Division II sectional action.