Bowling Green sophomore forward Alayna Mahan (19) pushes ahead with possession even though marked from behind by Clay junior defender Paige Kidd. (Lee Welch | Sentinel-Tribune)
If there is any team that has been a nemesis for Bowling Green girls soccer, it has been Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division foe Clay.
Wednesday, Clay did what teams have been doing to the Bobcats all season — scoring in the first five minutes — then holding on for a 1-0 victory at Bobcat Stadium.
The Eagles are 5-4-1 overall, but 5-0-1 in the Cardinal Division and closing in on their second Buckeye Division championship in two years. Clay has only been an NLL member for two years.
“We’ll take them one at a time,” Clay coach Don “Duck” Hess said. “We’ve got a three-game stretch, and with these guys we just got past this hurdle. Now, we’ve got Springfield on Monday and Southview on Wednesday, so we’ve got to get one at a time.”
Clay sophomore defender Karina Espinosa scored on a 15-yard shot stemming from a breakaway, putting the Eagles out in front just two minutes and 54 seconds after the opening kickoff.
However, BG made a run at the Eagles time after time, outshooting them 7-6 in the first half, including 6-3 in shots on goal, but could not get anything past Clay sophomore goalkeeper Rily Chambers.
In the second half, Clay outshot BG 10-4, including 7-1 in shots on goal, but the Eagles leaned on their defense, marking man-to-man on the Bobcats’ top players, especially BG’s leading scorer, sophomore Alayna Mahan.
“I was afraid of 19 (Mahan),” Hess said. “She’s a heck of a player. She’s got speed and we just tried at the end there, we were just man-marking her there a little bit, and that helped us. But our defense came up big. Our seniors and juniors came up super big.”
BG coach Erika Kimple explained that Mahan was a new wrinkle they presented to Clay since she didn’t play during the Bobcats’ 3-0 loss at Clay Memorial Stadium earlier in the season, but Hess was well-aware of her scoring ability.
“She didn’t play against them last time because of an injury, so it kind of shows what she can do,” Kimple said.
“She’s got 10 goals on the season for us, she’s aggressive, she’s fast, she’s not afraid to get to the goal. It is good for her that they know that. But we are going to have to build off her. It took us a minute to figure it out, but once we did, we looked pretty good.”
BG continued to put pressure on Clay’s defense the final 40 minutes but could not get past Clay’s back line. During a final flurry, BG had a corner kick opportunity to tie with 1:50 remaining, and then a free kick from just outside the box with 40 seconds showing, but could not convert.
“We played great,” Kimple said. “That first three minutes — it’s been the same every single game that we’ve lost. It’s that first 10 minutes.
“If I told the girls, other than the first three (minutes), the next 77, we won that game. The second half we dominated it. We were aggressive, we were trying to play good balls, and we were doing a great job — the ball was down there most of the time.”
Still, Clay sophomore defender Koren Stevens had a chance to put the Eagles up by two goals on a penalty kick, but she sent the shot sailing over the top crossbar with 10:07 remaining.
To keep the Bobcats in check, the Eagles were physical, leading to seven fouls whistled against Clay, including two yellow cards. BG committed four fouls, and the Bobcats also held a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.
One of the yellow cards was from a play that led to an injury to a key BG starter with 27:34 remaining, and with one other key player already on crutches, the Bobcats played the rest of the way without two senior defensive starters, who are both captains.
“So, it just kind of stinks, but it’s a huge difference for us from beginning to end, especially losing a senior captain, starting center back who never comes off the field, and she had to come out,” Kimple said.
BG needed a win to stay in contention in the Cardinal Division, although Clay has not clinched a title yet.
BG, which started the season 0-5 and then went through five straight games without losing, winning four and tying one, falls to 4-6-1 overall and 3-3 in the Cardinal Division.
