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Celina's Ali Hemmelgarn (7) passes the ball away from Elida's Kylee Wallace (3) during Monday's WBL girls soccer match at the soccer stadium. The two Bulldog squads played to a 1-1 tie.
CELINA - For more than an hour Monday night, Celina and Elida could hardly separate themselves.
Then the stalemate broke open.
Elida struck with 17 minutes remaining before Celina answered just 10 minutes later, and neither side could find a winner down the stretch as the two Bulldogs settled for a 1-1 tie in girls soccer action at Celina.
The draw kept both teams unbeaten with Celina moving to 3-0-2 (and 6-0-2 overall) and Elida going to 2-0-3 in league and 8-0-3 overall. Ottawa-Glandorf's 2-0 win over Bath moved the Titans to 5-0-1 in league play.
The first half was about as evenly matched as the scoreboard suggested. Both teams spent stretches in possession and generated chances, but neither was able to turn one into a goal.
Celina used its speed to create pressure, with junior defender Miley Werntz and sophomore midfielder Brenna Korte among several Celina Bulldogs consistently covering ground and challenging Elida throughout the field.
Elida's Maddie Thomas (2) makes contact with Celina's Jada Highley going after the ball.
Elida, meanwhile, showed off their ability to weave through traffic in the Celina box. Multiple times, the visitors retained possession in congested areas long enough to create a look at the goal, but Celina managed to stave off Elida's attempts and keep them off the board through the first half.
The back-and-forth continued after halftime, but Celina slowly began to tilt the field in its favor. The home team held the ball for longer stretches, pinned Elida in its own end and started turning possession into sustained pressure.
Elida, however, was the team that finally broke through with 17 minutes remaining.
Senior forward Lexie Good finished a cross from the corner to put Elida ahead 1-0, giving the visitors the first advantage of the night.
Celina coach David Hammons said his squad had focused much of their defensive attention on limiting Good, one of Elida's top offensive threats.
"We asked the girls to take away probably the top goal scorer in the area for 80 minutes, and it's really tough to stay with somebody for that amount of time," Hammons said. "I asked Brenna [Korte] to shadow her basically the entire time she was in, and I thought she did a great job tonight."
Hammons credited Good for managing to find an opening.
"She's a phenomenal player, and she's obviously going to have opportunities," he said. "The goal is always to limit the damage, and she's a very dynamic player."
With the lead in hand, Elida slowed the pace and looked to work the clock, but it was only a matter of time before Celina could snatch the momentum back.
Celina finally found its answer with seven minutes left.
The Bulldogs sent the ball into the box on a set piece from the corner. An Elida defender got a touch on it, but Celina recovered the deflection and junior forward Kirsten Garrity buried the rebound to even the match at 1-1.
"We've tried to be dangerous on set pieces all season and capitalize on those," Hammons said. "They were pretty hungry in the box on that one, and Kirsten made a great run. I thought she timed it very well."
Hammons said Garrity's finish also reflected something the Bulldogs have worked on in training.
"We practice finishing one touch pretty frequently, and I was glad to see that she stayed over it and got something on it," he said.
Celina's Maddie Rammel (17) battles Elida's Bella Ostendorf for control of the ball.
Elida nearly reclaimed the lead less than three minutes later.
A long pass sent an Elida attacker into a one-on-one opportunity with the Celina defense beaten. The ensuing shot got past the keeper but struck the right post, allowing Celina to clear the ball back toward midfield and preserve the tie.
The visitors continued to push during the final two minutes, repeatedly threatening Celina's back line without finding the deciding goal.
Celina mounted one final charge in the closing seconds but could not generate a clean look before time expired, sealing the 1-1 tie.
Celina travels to Bath for another WBL matchup on Thursday.
