PHOTOS by Mark Andreasen

By Cort Reynolds

ADA__The undefeated Ada High School girls soccer team dominated visiting Delphos Jefferson in a 6-0 win on Thursday night, August 28 in War Memorial Stadium.

Streaking Ada improved to 6-0, the best start in program history, with its third consecutive shutout. The Bulldog girls tallied three goals in each half.

Sophomore Emily Shanks scored a goal in both halves to pace the victors.

DJ fell to 2-2 after the defeat. Ada has outscored its opposition 32-2 this season.

“Great night for us,” said Ada fourth-year head coach Doug Dewese. “Delphos Jefferson gave us our toughest test this season and the girls answered the challenge.

“Six and oh is the best program start and longest win streak ever for Ada, so the girls were all about setting that standard and winning,” he continued. “Not only did we put the ball in the back of the net, we handled the shutout as well.

“We had a great game out of Emily Shanks, and I was super happy to see her on the books for the two goals,” he added.

Ada scored at the 35:10 point when sophomore Rose Baxter cleaned up a mishandled save off an Alex Gibson shot and booted it into the upper netting from about 11 yards out on the right side for a 1-0 lead.

An Ada shot was blocked and saved in the 13th minute. A few minutes later, a Baxter blast from the right side was saved by the DJ keeper. 

A minute later, freshman Aubry Jordan advanced the ball to the left corner, made a 360-spin move past her defender and booted a crossing pass across the goalmouth. But no one was there to punch it in.

A few more Bulldog shots midway through the half went just wide or were saved. DJ’s first good shot went wide left of the goal in the 22nd minute.

The Wildcat keeper made a great sliding save in the 25th minute, and an Ada rebound shot banged off the right upright out of play.

Three minutes later, Avary Acheson launched a good corner kick but the keeper made a diving stop to keep it 1-0. She then made a sliding save off a long Brooklyn Roberts throw-in from the left side.

At the 12:33 mark, Shanks blasted a 40-yard shot out front over the outstretched Wildcat goalie into the net. She got a hand on it but couldn’t stop the powerful unassisted shot.

“She has been due to knock one in and she did it in true Emily fashion by hitting a 40-yard score,” said Dewese.

In the 39th minute, Gibson booted a long ball ahead toward the goal. The busy keeper dived and missed it, and Jordan rolled it in for a 3-0 lead.

An Ada shot curled just wide right with three ticks left in the half.

At the 37:49 mark of half two, a 22-yard shot by Alex Gibson was saved.

Emily Gibson made a nice save of a Wildcat shot at the 36:32 juncture. About 3:25 later, a Wildcat shot off a good right side corner kick was kicked over the goal.

A Jordan shot sailed wide right with 30:53 remaining. A long drive by freshman Shay Smith was saved 53 seconds later. Shanks then directed a right side shot wide off a good Maycie Dewese corner kick at the 27:38 mark.

With 26:30 to go Wildcat senior Kyah Kimmett spun, used a few good moves and foot skills to author a spectacular 60-yard run up the left side before Ada defenders took the ball away.

A long Wildcat shot at the 25:45 juncture was saved by Gibson.

With 24:35 left, Smith won a ball and rolled shot from nine yards out into the left side of the net past the keeper to make it 4-0.

Kimmett made another great run two minutes later, but her shot was saved. A Wildcat rebound follow-up boot slammed off the football goalpost crossbar behind the soccer net with 23:22 left.

The Wildcat keeper made another sliding save with 20:59 to go. Ada sophomore Aliyah Kober got off shots at the 19:54 and 16:36 marks, but the first sailed left and the second was saved.

With 11:40 to go, senior Kenley Poling fired a left-footed shot that ricocheted off the right upright and caromed away.

With 11 minutes left, Roberts drilled a shot from 13 yards out which was saved by a diving Wildcat goalie. 

At the 9:37 mark, Poling drilled a 19-yard shot past the keeper on a bounce close to the goal line to provide a 5-0 cushion.

The speedy Kimmett made yet another nice run with 6:44 remaining but couldn’t score. Alex Gibson fired a direct kick just high over the goal with 6:22 left as it began to rain lightly.

A Baxter shot went wide right of the goal with 3:11 to go. 

Shanks then closed the scoring on an assist from Jordan with a goal at the 1:21 mark as the rain started to fall fairly hard.

“Emily’s second goal was on tough-nosed persistence in front of the net for the last score,” Dewese noted.

Sophomore keeper Emily Gibson made six saves in goal for Ada. 

“I was also very happy with our keeper Emily Gibson,” the coach noted. “She didn’t see a lot of shots, but a few of them were high-pressure 1 v. 1’s that she handled with skill and got extremely tricky saves in tough situations.

“I ask my keepers to give me one great save a game, and Emily gave us a couple,” he added.

The Bulldogs peppered the overworked Wildcat keeper for 31 shots, and she saved 23. DJ managed to boot six shots on target.

Ada plays at Lima Senior Saturday, August 30 at 5 p.m.

The Bulldog girls then open NCOSA league play Sept. 4 at home vs. Van Buren (3-2).

“On to Lima Senior Saturday, and then we start a tough homestand with teams like Van Buren, Riverdale and Columbus Grove over the next few weeks,” said Dewese.