By Cort Reynolds

ST. MARYS__The visiting Ada High School boys soccer team lost a 1-0 battle of unbeatens to St. Marys on Thursday, Aug. 27.

Ada boys fell to 3-1 after the close defeat. St. Marys improved to 4-0 with the hard-fought win.

“We lost but I thought we played well,” said Ada head coach Aaron Acheson. “We had a defensive breakdown early in the first half that they took advantage of. Their player got a shot off from around the six-yard line, high to the near post, and found the back of the net.”

Neither team was able to score after intermission, as well as for most of the first half.

“We had a couple of promising opportunities to score in both halves, but we just couldn’t capitalize on them,” Acheson recalled. 

Ada keeper Jacob Rush made 14 saves in goal.

“Overall, this was a good test for us early in the season,” Acheson noted. “We will use this game to help us identify areas where we can improve and prepare for the next game.

“St. Marys was fast and had good quality across all of their lines,” the coach continued. “They were very quick in transition and consistently got to the ball first. Through St. Marys’ first four games, we were the only team to hold them one goal.”

The Roughriders came in averaging 4.7 goals a game, while Ada was scoring 3.7 goals per outing.

Ada hosts Hardin County rival Kenton (1-1-1) Saturday at 7 p.m. in the annual “309 Cup” game. Last year, the foes tied in a match played at the Columbus Crew’s home Major League Soccer stadium.