Bowling Green sophomore Alayna Mahan (19) passes the ball during the first half of a soccer match against Fremont Ross on Wednesday at Bobcat Stadium. (Scott W. Grau | Sentinel-Tribune)
By Bryce Hudik
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
Bowling Green sophomore Alayna Mahan scored a three-goal hat trick in helping the Bobcats to a 5-0 Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division win over Fremont Ross at Bobcat Stadium on Wednesday.
Mahan, who also kicks for the Bowling Green football team, now has a team-leading 19 goals this season. Mahan also had two assists in the Bobcats’ win, totaling eight points for the game.
“I liked our urgency in the first half,” said BG coach Erika Kimple. “But we talked about slowing it down at halftime, just keeping it simpler and controlling the ball.”
In the first half the Bobcats got off to a hot start, scoring two goals within the first ten minutes of the game.
Just two minutes and 51 seconds after the opening kickoff, a BG shot attempt nicked off a foot and became a perfect pass for Kennedy Bosworth who found the back of the net on the backside.
“For the past two weeks she’s (Kimple) been telling me to be on the backside and be ready for an opportunity and that’s what happened tonight,” said Bosworth who notched her first two goals on the season.
Mahan scored the next three goals for the Bobcats, two of which happened in the first half and gave them the 3-0 lead heading into halftime. The first came with 30:40 remaining as she sent a missile at the Fremont Ross goalkeeper which slipped through her hands, rolling between her legs and into the goal.
Then at the 14:30 mark Mahan scored off the right side, slipping it between keeper and post.
The second half was scoreless until the 4:24 mark. Mahan completed the hat trick by sending a stinger from outside the box over the goalkeeper’s head.
Bosworth eked one in the back of the net with just 38 seconds remaining, thus capping off the scoring for the Bobcats.
The Bobcats controlled possession and peppered the goal with over 20 shots on goal and five corner kick opportunities, and never letting the Little Giants sniff the goal. Ross had just two shots on net and one corner try.
“We’ve had to make a few adjustments, and the girls started to buy into the gameplan. We meet about it, we talk about what we’re going to do every day before the game and they finally started sticking to it, that’s what’s made the huge difference from the beginning of the year to now,” said Kimple.
Also getting assists for the Bobcats was Kylah Crawford, Claire Rieman, and Corinna Kramer.
BG started off 0-5 on the year but have since turned their season around, now possessing a positive record of 7-6-1. They’re 5-3-1 in conference play and will look to continue their winning ways when they travel to Wapakoneta on Saturday.
Fremont Ross is 3-8-2 on the season with a disappointing 0-7-1 record in conference play. They host Toledo Whitmer Panthers in their next bout on Monday.
