By Cort Reynolds

COLUMBUS GROVE – The Ada High School girls soccer team lost at tough Columbus Grove 6-0 in Div. V first round sectional tournament play Tuesday evening, October 15.

The defeat ended fifth seed Ada’s season with a very solid record of 10-8. 

With the win, Northwest Conference champion Grove improved its record to 15-1-2.

Second-seeded CG advances to the semifinals Monday, Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. in Bluffton vs. tough Mansfield Christian (13-1-2). Third seed MC shut out Ashland Crestview 7-0 in their district quarterfinal match Tuesday.

CG senior standout Lauryn Auchmuty scored three goals and doled out two assists to pace the victors past Ada. Junior Ruth Myers and sophomore Ella Dotson each tallied a goal and one assist.

Grove sophomore Lauryn Halker netted their other goal. 

CG led Ada 3-0 at the half, then added three more goals in the second half to win.

In their first round battle of the Bulldogs, Grove out-shot Ada 17-6. 

Ada freshman keeper Emily Gibson was credited with 16 saves. Quick sophomore defender Reese Jordan made a non-goalie stop to save a goal.

CG keeper Erianne Heffner made three saves in goal.

“It was a young team vs. an experienced team,” explained Ada head coach Doug Dewese. “We weren’t in the right mindset for tournament play, and Grove was.

“We had some very promising attacks, but lost traction in the attacking third and couldn’t finish,” he said. “Again, it was a nasty sectional tournament grouping. 

“I believe all four of the top-seeded teams are ranked in the top 20 of the district overall,” he added.

Riverdale is the number one seed in the rugged sectional. The Falcons led only 1-0 at the half Tuesday vs. Cory-Rawson, but ultimately shut out the Hornets 5-0 in a first round bout. 

Fourth seed Bluffton defeated Allen East 3-1 in the other quarterfinal. Mustang senior Rilynn Jones scored her 23rd goal of the season and 120th of her career in the loss. She also ended up with 51 career assists.

Tuesday marked the final game for Ada seniors Karley Wagner, Lexi Poling and Jillian Allison.

Bluffton (11-5-1) hosts Riverdale (12-3-3) in the second semifinal Monday, Oct. 21. It is the third year in row the rivals have met in the tournament on the Pirate home pitch of Steinmetz Field.

The district finals are Thursday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. at Steinmetz Field.

The four remaining semifinalist teams have a combined record of 51-10-8.

“I can’t judge our season by the end,” Dewese summed up. “We set a record for wins (10) and shutouts (six) in a season. We got some young players, the future of the program, some valuable varsity experience.

“This is, hopefully, the start of a bright run in our program,” he continued. “Where we go from here is completely dependent on the girls’ work ethic heading into next season.”