Friday, September 1st, 2006

Celina keeps St. Marys off the scoreboard in 2-0 victory

By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Celina's Brian Dorsten, 11, plays aggressive defense on St. Marys' Zach Albert, 2, during their Western Buckeye League contest on Thursday night. The Bulldogs won the soggy affair, 2-0.

ST. MARYS - Celina set the tone early by attacking the goal, coming away from its annual rivalry battle with St. Marys with a 2-0 win over the Roughriders at West Elementary School in St. Marys in the first Western Buckeye League match of the season for both teams.
The Bulldogs stand at 2-1-0 on the season and 1-0-0 in the WBL while the Roughriders drop to 1-1-0 overall and 0-1-0 in league play.
Celina used its speed to control the game and kept St. Marys from getting any significant time on its side of the field. Celina peppered 10 shots at Roughrider keeper Dan Imwalle early, but most were off the mark and not much of a threat.
The breakthrough came with just over 12 minutes left to go in the first half. Kyle White broke through the St. Marys defense and put one past Imwalle for what proved to be the game-winner.
"We made some change-ups because we were disappointed with our scoring against Findlay," said Celina coach Bruce Strine. "I thought we had some opportunities we missed. We moved White from the outside to the top. He looked good today."
St. Marys had just three shots on goal in the first half, but made the most of the chances. The best chance to score came with 24 minutes to go in the half as Geoff Hiskey was right in front of the goal, but the ball caromed off the crossbar. A rebound attempt was saved by Celina goalkeeper Matt Leugers.
"I'm pleased," said Strine. "Offensively, we had a lot of looks at the goal. We can certainly grow from here when it comes to finishing: crossbars and dribbling into the keeper. But we know this is a great rivalry and we knew it was going to be a tough game.
"St. Marys had a nice shot and it hit the crossbar. (Hiskey) did a fantastic job on that shot."
In the second half, Celina continued to keep up the pressure on the Roughrider defense. Finally with 18 minutes left, Jason Dammeyer found Chris Post with a pass, and Post slammed one to the back of the net to make it 2-0 in favor of the Bulldogs.
St. Marys wasn't about to give up and worked feverishly to try and score a consolation goal. In the final six minutes of the game, the Roughriders had six good chances on goal, only to see the shot be off the mark or have Leugers, who had seven saves on the night, make the stop.
"He made some nice stops," said Strine of his keeper. "It was nice to get him some action."
"We played well. I can't complain," said St. Marys coach Dave Ring. "Coming into the game, goaltending was a question mark. I don't think it's a question mark now (Imwalle had nine saves). We played really well. ... Once we got to where we knew we could play, we had our chances the last 15 minutes of the game. Couldn't ask for more."
The junior varsity match ended in a 2-2 tie.
Celina returns to action on Saturday, hosting Kalida at the Soccer Stadium. St. Marys travels to Greenville on Saturday.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

Celina's Chris Post controls the ball during play of their Western Buckeye League contest against rival St. Marys on Thursday night. Post scored the second goal for the Bulldogs giving the Green and White a 2-0 shutout victory over the Roughriders.

Additional online stories on this date
A proposed construction project to replace the aging Mercer County Jail has passed its first hurdle with the Ohio Bureau of Adult Detention approving phase one of the plans - with some stipulations. [More]
The Celina Bulldogs bounced back from their disappointing season opener by beating the St. Marys Roughriders on Thursday night in the volleyball edition of the Battle of Grand Lake on Thursday at the Intermediate School. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Celina city officials plan to spend $48,000 to pay off the final couple of years of debt on Knowlton Ditch.
City officials say paying off the bond
Site would be used to build a home for a low-income family
Celina officials are considering whether to donate a tract of residential property to a local non-profit group that builds homes for low-income families.
Motorists are smiling at the pumps as gasoline prices locally have tumbled well below the $3 mark.
After rising to as high as $3.05 per gallon of r
Grand Lake/Wabash Water-shed Alliance joint board members Thursday agreed to apply for a U.S. EPA grant that could help pay landowners to install best management practices aimed at improving water quality.
Village chamber of commerce taking orders for new board game
FORT RECOVERY - The village chamber of commerce is issuing an updated version of Fortopoly, a board game that allows players to buy, sell, or trade local properties - all in fun.
A former Celina man who was recently sent to prison for an armed bank robbery in St. Marys, has pleaded guilty to multiple charges for seven similar robberies in Hardin and Marion Counties.
A squirrel disrupted all electrical activities Thursday afternoon in the Coldwater area.
According to Matt Berry, Midwest Electric, St. Marys, a squirrel came into contact with high voltage power lines, causing almost a two-hour power outage from 2:10-4 p.m.
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office has foiled the efforts of marijuana growers in recent days by pulling up plants prior to harvest.
Deputies seized three plants, ranging in height from 2 to 3 feet, Tuesday afternoon near a field along state Route 117 near Rockford.
A goal of $150,000 has been set for the 2007 Celina Combined Services Appeal slated for Sept. 8-Oct. 28. The goal is the same as last year.
"We met the goal last year but decided to just keep it the same, as everything is going well," drive chairman Bill Vondrell said.
MARIA STEIN - The Catholic adult faith formation program called Why Catholic? is beginning its second session in area parishes.
The theme for the s
ST. MARYS - The Rev. Randy McKinney has left the bright lights of the city to embrace a new role as senior pastor at Living Hope Assembly of God in St. Marys.
In preseason discussions with veteran Western Buckeye League coaches Jerry Harris and Doug Frye, the two Grand Lake area gridiron mentors both mentioned how much better they felt the WBL would be this season.
FORT RECOVERY - The Fort Recovery Indians gave new coach Brad Smith his first Midwest Athletic Conference win Thursday night at Fort Site Fieldhouse
Compiled by Ryan Hines
and Gary R. Rasberry
St. Henry started its Midwest Athletic Conference volleyball season in solid fashion, beating St. John's in three games on Thursday at Arnzen Gymnasium in Delphos.