Jennings, Miller City tie in girls soccer

By Jim Metcalfe, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Friday, September 4, 2009 (6 months, 2 weeks ago)
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FORT JENNINGS — Whenever two Putnam County League soccer teams get together, it will be a battle, male or female.
Wednesday night’s girls encounter between Miller City and Fort Jennings at Keith Hamel Memorial Field was no different.
These two rivals fought to a 1-1 draw on a sunny afternoon.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Jennings coach Rodney Wagner explained. “We didn’t pass as well in the first half as we did the second and we didn’t get a lot of quality shots. Our shooting was like at Wapak. We had chances but they were too far outside the box; nothing was in close.”
Miller City’s Nick Pitman had the same lament.
“We have been inconsistent so far. We have one good half and one bad one,” Putman said. “We cannot figure it out; we either start out well and don’t carry over the momentum into the second half or vice versa. We will keep working to figure it out.”
The Lady Musketeers (1-1-1, 0-0-1 PCL) outshot the Lady Wildcats (3-1-1, 0-0-1 PCL) 15-7 in the tie.
The goalkeepers: Jennings sophomore Kelsey Von Lehmden (5 saves) and Miller City 10th-grader Melissa Michel (8 saves); did their jobs.
The hosts had the first two good looks in the first half, with sophomore Morgan Schroeder denied by Michel from 18 yards at 27:55 and senior Katie Von Lehmden missing just wide right from 12 yards at 24:33.
Miller City’s first great opening came at 18:07 when Hannah Niese’s 12-yarder was first deflected by a defender and then controlled by Kelsey Von Lehmden.
Their second solid offering came at 9:10 when Jessica Nienberg’s shot from the right wing was knocked away by the Musketeer netminder.
Katie Von Lehmden tried to redirect a shot by junior Lauren Verhoff but the Wldcat keeper was up to the challenge.
Senior Stacie Chandler had the final Musketeer chance in the first half at 5:05 but her 20-yarder was denied.
The home team was called for obstruction inside the 18-yard box, resulting in an indirect kick from 10 yards. Niese quickly touched it and Brittany Drummelsmith fired through the traffic into the net with 32 ticks left for a 1-0 halftime advantage.
Jennings had control for most of the second half, launching 10 shots-on-goal versus only three for their guests.
They tied it at 37:49. Verhoff had a chance from in close denied by Michel but couldn’t control it and was too far out. She could not get back in time as Schroeder got control and got the orb past the traffic and into the back of the net for a 1-1 edge.
The Orange and Black kept attacking but couldn’t quite get the match-winner.
Their best chances came at 33:47 when Schroeder got a free look with an open goal but missed just wide right from 20 yards; at 30:12, when Katie Von Lehmden’s shot from the left side was stopped by Michel; and at 18:30, when the Musketeers had a sequence in front of their offensive net for what seemed an eternity (to Miller City) but couldn’t quite squeeze off a shot before Michel finally got her hands on the orb.
Other chances were either snuffed by the Miller City netminder or were off the mark.
The Musketeers also lost senior Kristi Kennedy at 26:11 with a knee injury and Chandler at 21:49 when she was banged up.
Miller City’s best two opportunities came at 9:20 when Megan Klear had an open 15-yarder that was first deflected by a defender and then stopped by Kelsey Von Lehmden; and at 7:25, when Niese tried from the top of the box and was again denied by the opposing goalkeeper.
“If we played the first half like we did the second, we’d be fine. We were beating them to the ball and were much more organized,” Wagner added. “We know what they want to do; get the lead and then play four to six people back on defense. They force you to beat them over the top or use through balls and we couldn’t connect. It’s what they did last year to beat us in the tournament.”
Pitman figures his team will continue to progress.
“We have a lot of freshmen that will get nothing but better. We have a sophomore keeper who is improving every match,” Pitman added. “We just have to take the intensity off the bus and carry it to when we get on the bus.”
Miller City visits Upper Sandusky Tuesday, while Fort Jennings visits Continental at 5 p.m. Wednesday in another PCL matchup.