By Cort Reynolds

MT. BLANCHARD – The visiting Ada High School girls soccer team tied rival Riverdale 0-0 in a chippy North Central Ohio Soccer Association match on a rain-soaked Falcon Field on Wednesday night, Sept. 16.

Ada ran its record to 7-1-2 overall and 0-1-1 in NCOSA play with the result.

The Falcons are 3-4-3 and 0-0-2 in the NCOSA after their second league tie.

“Despite a tie being the outcome, I think we played as hard as can be expected,” said Ada head coach Doug Dewese. ”We had a weather delay, poor field conditions and a hostile crowd.

“We created a lot of high-quality opportunities, which is a plus,” he continued. “The first half we were flat and going through the motions. Second half, we came out ready to play. I felt like the first 10 minutes and last 10 minutes of the second half we outplayed Riverdale.

“The middle 20 of the second half was 50-50,” he observed. “We had great individual efforts that we glued together to good team play in the second half.”

The game was scoreless for the first half. Falcon senior scoring leader Marissa Bonham limped off the field with 9:33 left before halftime after suffering an apparent ankle injury, and did not return.

Ada keeper Emily Gibson stopped six shots Riverdale put on frame in the first half. A physical second half ensued.

Falcon junior Bristel Cramner got off a good shot in the 45^th minute, but she was marked hard by Ada junior Aliyah Kober and her attempt just missed.

Bulldog Rose Baxter got off a good shot that missed, followed by a Kenley Poling rebound attempt. A shot by Aubry Jordan was saved by Falcon junior keeper Ryleigh Howard moments later.

A Cramner shot sailed over Gibson and the Ada goal, and she also blasted a shot from 23 yards out that went just wide left of the goal with 25 minutes to go.

Ada sophomore Shay Smith’s header was grabbed by Howard with 20 minutes remaining. A Sophie Weatherholtz free kick was well-struck but off target for the hosts.

Baxter’s good crossing feed skittered on the wet field, making it hard for Poling to finish it with a one-timer boot. Poling had another shot go wide with 6:30 remaining.

Gibson ended up with eight saves in goal for Ada.

Ada visits tough Northwest Conference co-leader Columbus Grove (5-1) Thursday, their third game in four days. CG is ranked 19^th in the state.

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