Perrysburg junior forward Emma Ogdahl (10) dribbles past a Findlay defender at Elmer Graham Stadium. (Drake Harlett | Sentinel-Tribune)
FINDLAY — Perrysburg senior midfielder Grace Lagendonk enjoys her role as captain of the girls soccer team, especially now that the Yellow Jackets are a league championship team.
Perrysburg routed Findlay, 8-0, Wednesday at Elmer Graham Stadium to clinch at least a share of the Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division title with Anthony Wayne, which barely got past league foe Sylvania Northview, 1-0, Wednesday.
Langendonk says for her and the other two co-captains, junior defender Kinsley Jones and senior defender Kendollyn Sadowsky, the responsibility is not as difficult as one might expect. That’s because of thier teammates.
She says they play well together as a team because of their communication skills, and it shows on both the offensive and defensive sides of the pitch.
“Being the captain on the team, it is super easy,” Langendonk said. “We all work together, our communication on the field works, so when we’re just talking on the field it helps.”
Perrysburg improves to 10-3 overall and finishes league play at 7-1, while AW is 13-1-1 and 6-1 with one league game remaining at Toledo Whitmer (Oct. 9), a team the Generals defeated 7-0 in their first meeting.
This year Perrysburg and AW split their two league games, with the Jackets handing the Generals their only loss this season, 3-1 in Whitehouse on Sept. 18, but AW defeated the Jackets, 3-2, at Steinecker Stadium on Aug. 21.
Entering this season, Perrysburg has won more NLL girls soccer championships than any other school with 14, followed by Northview (13), AW (8), Sylvania Southview (1) and Clay (1). But over the past decade it’s been all Perrysburg or AW.
“Anthony Wayne got us a couple times but since 2009 we’ve gotten nine and we have shared twice,” Perrysburg coach Jorge Diaz said. “Before that it was Northview.”
In the win over Findlay, Perrysburg took a 6-0 halftime lead and added two second half goals, outshooting the Trojans 33-7, including 21-5 in shots on goal. Watching the Jackets move at will against the Trojans was like poetry in motion.
“Our technique and tactic early in the season was progressing it (possession) and I think this game showed a lot of our offense,” Langendonk said. “We connected a lot of balls, and obviously with an 8-0 score it worked really well so I’m super, super proud of these girls.”
Seven different players scored for Perrysburg with sophomore forward Elyza Byrd leading the way with two goals and one assist.
Perrysburg senior forward Alexis Kaufold and junior forwards Emma Ogdahl and Camille Francis each scored a goal and dished out an assist.
Lagendork, sophomore forward Lauren McConnachie, and sophomore midfielder Kendyl Mefferd scored one goal apiece, and senior Jera Harrington and junior midfielder Sophie Mitchell provided one assist apiece.
Harrington and sophomore Tori Trzcinski shared the goalkeeper duties, each serving one half and combining for five saves and a shutout.
While Trzcinski was in net the second half, Harrington was playing midfield, sending a pass left to Byrd, who nailed a 30-yard sliced line drive shot for the Jackets’ eighth goal. That’s how much of the second half was played with multiple players experiencing positions they aren’t necessarily used to.
“That was the idea — we had to push across some goals in the first half and try to win, and then get some different players some opportunities to play and put some players into different positions, different assignments, so that they stay fresh,” Diaz said.
“We do have some people out and we have a very tough team coming up, Upper Arlington, on Saturday.”
Perrysburg, ranked seventh in the Division I state rankings, closes the season traveling to Upper Arlington for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday. On Monday the Jackets have a 7 p.m. tilt at Ottawa-Glandorf, and next Wednesday they close the regular season with a 5 p.m. game against St. Ursula at Strasser Field in Toledo.
Then it’s off to the Division I tournament, which will look different this year because the OHSAA expanded to five divisions, leaving only the biggest schools to play in Perrysburg’s division.
The D-I schools are so much bigger on average that the only other schools in Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg’s division are Whitmer and Findlay, so the Jackets will find themselves playing teams from other parts of the state in a hurry just to advance. The draw is this Sunday.
“That’s why we picked up a couple teams from the Columbus area to play,” Diaz said. “The whole season has been like that — we played Strongsville (2-1 loss), (Cuyahoga Falls) Walsh (Jesuit) (2-0 loss), and locally here St. Ursula and Notre Dame (7-2 win) and Anthony Wayne twice, so I think that we are battle tested.”
Walsh Jesuit is the No. 1 ranked team in Division I in Ohio, Upper Arlington is No. 2 in D-I, AW is ranked second in D-II, and O-G is ranked second in D-IV.
