HOLLAND — After an 0-5 start, Bowling Green girls soccer was looking for it’s fourth straight win at Springfield Wednesday.

Everything went right for the Bobcats except for the final score, which was not a total loss as BG and Springfield both settled for a 2-2 Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division tie.

The Bobcats are 3-5-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the Cardinal Division, while the Blue Devils are 4-3-1 and 2-2-1.

BG controlled 80% of possession time, trying to thwart Springfield’s over the top direct game, and the Bobcats owned a 26-9 advantage in shots, including a 15-6 advantage in shots on goal.

The Bobcats had nine corner kick opportunities to just one for the Blue Devils, and BG’s offense forced Springfield’s defensive players to boot 24 goal kicks, while BG’s defense handled just seven goal kicks.

However, in soccer, that kind of dominance doesn’t always translate into wins, especially when a team like Springfield likes to use it’s front line speed to score on breakaways and they have one player, senior forward and returning captain Cali Garrow, who has a strong leg and foot.

BG owned 100% of possession for the first 10 minutes, but on Springfield’s first opportunity, Garrow nailed a 35-yard angled shot from the left side that caught the right side of the net, putting the Devils on the board with 29:33 remaining in the opening half.

Before that, BG had already had three scoring opportunities that fell short.

Just 78 seconds later, Garrow took advantage of a defensive miscue by BG’s back line and scored again, giving the Devils a quick 2-0 lead. Springfield coach Jayson Taylor is confident in Garrow’s scoring ability, and she backed it up.

“It’s nice to have somebody you can rely on. We can definitely rely on her,” Taylor said.

Kimple said those opening minutes took her back to the five losses, which were well-contested games but lost when goals were given up early.

“I still think our first 10 minutes needs to be better, and our communication needs to be better,” Kimple said.

“I think if the first one doesn’t happen neither does the second. We had a gameplan and we didn’t follow it after the first goal about who was supposed to take the goal kicks for that exact reason.

“The first goal happened, and we couldn’t come back from it, and they got the second one right after. At least we rallied and came back to tie it up.”

The Bobcats were out to even the score, if not win it, in the second half, scoring on two set pieces and shutting out the Blue Devils. Both scores came off boots by senior midfielder Claire Rieman.

Rieman’s free kick just outside the box caught sophomore midfielder Allison Hover in front of the net, and Hover one-timed a shot past Springfield sophomore goalkeeper Brynne Murphy with 20:47 left to play.

Rieman’s corner kick with just 2:59 remaining in the game found sophomore midfielder Corinna Kramer, whose shot tied the game.

It’s been a familiar theme with the Bobcats this year — sophomores doing the scoring. However, Kimple believes the Bobcats could have added more goals if they weren’t hesitant to shoot. She’d like to see them take a few more chances when the opportunity strikes.

“It’s what we’ve been working on for the last two weeks. It’s getting better,” Kimple said. ‘Our decision making in front of the goal is getting better.

“But now we are still a little hesitant to pull the trigger. We have girls who want to shoot, they all want to score. They need to think in their minds that they must just go out and do it.

“I think we are just too hesitant to shoot it. They want to get the perfect touch and the perfect ball before they shoot it.”

On Monday, BG won on the road, shutting out Fremont Ross, 4-0, as sophomore midfielder Alayna Mahan scored a three-goal hat trick and Kramer added the fourth goal. Assists went to freshman forwards Akimai Cullison and Caroline Newlove and junior forward Josie Rigel.

Mahan leads the team in scoring with 14 points on seven goals, Kramer has three goals, Rieman has four assists, and Hover, Newlove, and sophomore Leah Koester each have a goal and an assist.

A bright spot is Kimple expects senior midfielder and co-captain Ella Koester to possibly return from an injury in the next week or two. Next Monday, BG hosts Toledo Whitmer in a 7 p.m. game at Bobcat Stadium.