Sept. 9, 2021 — Bulldog Sports Round-Up

• By Carol Simmons
• Published: September 21, 2021

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SOCCER

Girls squad hits the field

Only two weeks into the school year, and the Yellow Springs High School girls soccer team is already five games into the 2021 season.

The team took to the road Saturday, Aug. 21, to face the Stivers Tigers for their first game of the season. It was also the first day that coaches Jonina Kelley and Sarah Wallis had seen all 18 players together, with just five players returning from last season. Junior Mackenzie Horton started her first game in goal, and with senior captain Myrah Burton at sweeper, held off Stivers for much of the first half, until the Tigers found the net for two goals before half time. In the second half, the Yellow Springs midfield moved the ball forward repeatedly, and senior captain Tahlia Potter and freshman Lili Herzog both had shots on goal before junior Carla Harris found the back of the net with an assist from senior captain Sophia Lawson. Junior Ahsha Jackson was in goal for the Bulldogs when a penalty kick was awarded. Jackson got her fingertips to the ball, but Stivers was awarded the goal. Stivers found the net again and the game finished 5–1.

The Lady Bulldogs began a three-game home series on Aug. 23 against Washington High from Washington Courthouse. The two teams were evenly matched for most of the first half, with freshman Katie Quigley, senior Delia Hallett and freshman Payton Horton helping anchor the defense. After a good back-and-forth game, several Bulldogs all had shots on goal, but they were stopped by the Washington keeper. In the second half, sophomores Alisha Cowen and Lily Kibblewhite pressured the Washington defense but were unable to find the net, and the match ended in a draw, 0–0.

Next in the home series was powerhouse Wayne High School. The Bulldogs took the field with energy and worked hard. Defenders Hallett and freshmen Julia Capasso and Jane Chambers closed ranks and held off the offense with the help of junior Halee Sparks and freshman Tiger Collins. However, Wayne forwards broke through early in the first half. It was a tough game, but freshman goalkeeper Gema Brizuela had 15 saves and both Hallett and Lawson recorded goal line saves to hold the Warriors to single digits.

The Bulldogs closed out August facing Trotwood Madison on Aug. 30. The team started strong, looking to score early. The first shots were stopped by the Trotwood keeper, but then the Bulldogs found the net and kept up the shots, finding the net 10 times. Illustrating the Bulldogs’ teamwork was the fact that over half the team recorded goals and assists: with goals by Gema Brizuela (1), Myrah Burton (2), Carla Harris (1), Lili Herzog (2), Sophia Lawson (1) and Tahlia Potter (2); and assists by Herzog, Lawson, Potter and Halee Sparks.

September found the Bulldogs on the road again headed to Jamestown to face the regionally ranked Greeneview Rams. It was the hardest team yet for the Bulldogs to face and while the team never gave up and the game was filled with many individual wins, including goal line saves from Burton, Capasso and Potter, the Bulldogs fell to Greeneview to bring their season record to 1–3–1. The Bulldogs are on the road again Sept. 9 when they play Catholic Central.

—Sarah Wallis, assistant coach

Boys win first four

The Yellow Springs High School boys soccer team have started the season with a strong showing, winning four games in non-conference play.

The season opened Monday, Aug. 23, with an away game against Miami Trace. The match, which took place on the first day of the school year, was a shutout, with a final score of 10–0 in the Bulldogs’ favor.

Yellow Springs followed up with two at-home games, taking the field against Waynesville on Aug. 26 and against Wayne on Sept. 2. Final scores against the two larger schools were 2–1 and 5–2 respectively.

The most recent game saw the Bulldogs best Greenview 4–1 on the Rams’ home field.
Next up is an away match against Catholic Central on Thursday, Sept. 9.

—Metro Buckeye Sports statistics

VOLLEYBALL

Bulldogs rack up wins

The high school girls volleyball team is well into the 2021 season with five wins and one loss, according to the most recent statistics available from the Metro Buckeye Conference.
The Bulldogs opened the season Monday, Aug. 23, with a home match against Greenon, finishing 25–13, 25–11 and 25–8.

Then the team hit the road for a four-game streak of wins against East Dayton Christian on Aug. 26 (25–11, 25–9, 25–15), Bethel on Aug. 28 (25–15, 25–14, 28–26), Springfield on Aug. 30 (25–20. 26–24, 17–25, 16–25, 15–13) and Princeton on Aug. 31 (25–18, 25–22, 16–25, 25–15).

The single defeat came in an away conference game Sept. 2 against Dayton Christian (25–11, 25–18, 25–13). The score for a Tuesday, Sept. 7, home match against Tri County North was not available at press time. The season’s record going into that match was 5–1 overall and 0–1 in conference play.

—Metro Buckeye Sports statistics.

CROSS-COUNTRY

Bulldogs have strong start

Running in their first competitive meet of the season, 23 runners out of a total squad of 26 toed the line at the Fairborn Skyhawk Invitational Wednesday, Sept. 1. For 11 of the runners, this was their first ever cross-country race.

Junior Cheyan Sundell-Turner easily outdistanced the field in the high school girls race with a first-place time of 22:04, which was two minutes faster than the nearest competitor. Fellow junior Josie DeWine returned after missing last year due to injury and placed 19th. Newcomers Lydia Lackovich (ninth grade) and Autumn Sorenson (11th grade) rounded out the field with respectable finishes and promise for the future.

The high school boys squad finished in fifth place out of nine teams. Seven young men competed, with ninth-grader Jia Sundell-Turner leading the charge for a 12th-place finish, running a time of 22:07. Sophomore Jack Horvath sped to a 23rd finish. Junior Malcolm Blunt (30th), Isaac Lewis (31st) and Malik Booth (33rd) ran as a tight pack that helped with the overall fifth-place finish. Kyle Raymer and Evan Galarza provided much needed depth with great efforts.

The McKinney boys team finished in fifth place out of 12 teams and 147 competitors, led by eighth-grader Ted Horvath, who ran a personal best time of 12:45 with a fourth place finish. Fellow eighth-grader Kyle Johnston ran a well-earned 23rd place. Will Oberg (71st), Noah Diamond (106th), Oskar Dennis (115th), Charlie Carr (125th) and Jaden Douglas (137th) all ran great races and showed great determination and effort.

The McKinney girls placed seventh out of 12 teams, with seventh-grader Vivian Grushon charging to a 19th-place finish out of 115 runners. Eighth-grader Sasi Drees-Johnson ran to a 55th-place finish, followed ably by Lauren Finney (71st), Rebecca DeWine (82nd) and Hanna Finney (114th), who were major contributors to the team score.

Coach Isabelle Dierauer was impressed by the efforts and the personal best times that many of the runners achieved. The Bulldogs will compete at the Brookville Invitational this Saturday, Sept. 11.

—John Gudgel, coach

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