Ottoville’s Jayden Saxton celebrates scoring with teammates during Wednesday’s Division V Regional semifinal match against Open Door Christian in Port Clinton.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
PORT CLINTON — Ottoville returned to the regional tournament for the fourth consecutive season on Wednesday night in Port Clinton and wasted little time before jumping on top of Elyria Open Door Christian, leading to a 3-1 victory.
“Right away we came out and controlled the tempo the first half,” said Ottoville coach Dustin Markward. “We were getting extra touches and chances. Some of them I wish we could have capitalized on to put them away early. Going into halftime with a two-goal lead was big for us though. A few times this year we had 2-0 leads at the break and let teams get back in.”
Jayden Saxton and Ashton Miller each claimed first-half goals while Ottoville’s defense smothered Open Door Christian, who recorded zero shots on goal through the first 40 minutes.
“Jayden (Saxton) was player of the year in our conference and his play hasn’t gone unnoticed,” Markward said. “He has scored a goal in each tournament game and his goal tonight was a perfect shot. He was flying around all over the field tonight.
“We have a lot of experienced guys on our defense too and that really shows. These guys know what to expect when they have speed in front of them. I think the moments they’ve been in over the last two seasons had them ready for this moment.”
Elyria Open Door Christian returned to the field in the second half with a different energy by controlling possession and putting pressure on Ottoville’s defense for the first time.
Liam Bores placed Open Door’s first shot of the evening off the crossbar and then past Ottoville keeper Carson Hilvers for the goal.
After allowing its lone score, Ottoville’s defense returned to its tightship form and held Open Door Christian off the scoreboard for the rest of the night.
“For the third game in a row, our midfield really played huge for us, and that gave us our chances,” said Markward. “They really came together after the goal.”
Nick Quartana found the net late in the second half to punch Ottoville’s ticket back to the regional final against Mansfield Christian. The winner moves on to State.
“There’s an experience factor here and we’re going back for a fourth year,” Markward said. “We just have to stay hungry and keep playing for ourselves. That’s our message right now. We are at our best when we play together.”
Box score
Ottoville 2 1 – 3
Elyria Open Door Christian 0 1 – 1
Scoring Summary
OV — Jayden Saxton — 32:51, 1st
OV — Ashton Miller — 15:19, 1st
EL — Liam Bares — 28:22, 2nd
OV — Nick Quartana — 7:20, 2nd
Nate Stidham wrote this story for LimaScores.com
