Riley Burtchin (18) jogs over to console her goalkeeper, Jordan Jensen, after the final seconds ticked off the clock in Eastwood’s 2-0 loss to Ottawa-Glandorf in a Division IV regional final on Saturday. Burtchin and Jensen are the lone two seniors for the Eagles. (Nicholas Huenefeld | Sentinel-Tribune)
By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
A pair of unfortunate goals doomed the Eastwood girls soccer team in a 2-0 loss to Ottawa-Glandorf on Saturday in a Division IV regional final at Bowling Green High School’s Bobcat Stadium.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Eastwood coach Julie Cross said. “Credit to Ottawa-Glandorf. They have an amazing program. I’m a big fan of their head coach. She always has them ready and organized. I think we battled with them, and I don’t think 2-0 tells the whole story.”
Ottawa-Glandorf (19-2), incredibly, recorded their 16th shutout of the season. The three-time defending state runner-up Titans now advance to face Chagrin Falls in the state semifinal round on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Sandusky.
Meanwhile, the Eagles saw their season end at the hands of Ottawa-Glandorf for the second straight and third time in the past four seasons in the regional final.
Ottawa-Glandorf had the game’s first six shots over a 13-minute stretch, but Eastwood goalkeeper Jordan Jensen made four saves and prevented a few other potential opportunities.
As the game slid into its 15th minute, Ottawa-Glandorf earned the game’s first of three consecutive corner kicks.
Eastwood (10-9-3) prevented shot opportunities on the first two, but O-G’s Carlie Brinkman headed the ball down on the third one, and it bounced up and over an Eastwood defender into the corner of the net as Jensen was also unable to prevent it from clearing the line.
Karissa Nelson had Eastwood’s first shot of the match, which came from right of frame and went on goal from about 18 yards out, but it was saved with 13:55 left in the half.
Piper Sutton added another shot on goal with 1:39 left, but her 40-yard strike was also saved.
The final shot of the half for the Titans came with 23 seconds left as they out-shot Eastwood 9-2 over the first 40 minutes.
“I think we kind of played a little timid in the first half,” Cross said. “I told (the players) at halftime that we are a great team and that we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t.
“We had a couple fixes offensively and defensively, and they believed in each other. They believed in themselves, and they came out strong in the second half.
“If we could have put one in during that string of chances we had, it might have been a different result.”
That string of chances Cross was referring to came behind the play of Nelson as she had three of the first four shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Her first look was saved and led to the first corner kick for Eastwood with 34:58 left. A second shot later in the same minute was also saved, and she missed a 28-yard shot high following a foul with 30:35 remaining.
After Nelson’s third shot, Ottawa-Glandorf took a throw-in just over a minute later. Alivia Grothause moved the ball from right to left across the field as the Eagles stuffed her a few times, but they were unable to clear the ball.
Ava Kachmarik was able to knock it away from Grothause eventually, but it went right to Rilee Brinkman, who delivered a perfect shot from about 25 yards out into the upper right and out of Jensen’s reach for a 2-0 lead with 29:12 left.
The Titans proceeded to outshoot Eastwood 7-0 over the final 22 minutes as Jensen added four saves to her game total of 10.
In total, Ottawa-Glandorf outshot Eastwood 18-5, which also included a 12-4 advantage in shots on goal.
“I’m just beyond proud of my girls, specifically my leaders and my two seniors,” Cross said, “for the drive that they had to prove other people wrong after our regular season concluded and the belief that they had in each other for the run.
“That’s at the front of my mind, how proud I am of all of them.”
The Eagles appeared in the program’s fourth regional final over the past five seasons, an impressive accomplishment that was led by the program’s two seniors, Jensen and Riley Burtchin.
Jensen made the regional final three times in her four seasons.
“That’s kind of crazy,” Cross said. “The credit goes to her and her leadership on the field and off the field, and especially for doing it in goal. That’s a lot of pressure.”
Burtchin fought through injuries her first two seasons and was part of the team’s regional final run last year, but didn’t see very many minutes.
“(Riley’s) kind of had a fun success story,” Cross said. “ We have two great seniors. I’m super proud of them. The team is proud of them. I’m just happy for the experience that we had.
“There’s a lot of high school players who will never have the chance that we just had – to make it to the regional final and play in front of packed stands. They brought the community out and inspired a bunch of fans, which was cool.”
