Ottoville’s Ty Horstman shoots against Bath keeper Landyn Vreeland during Monday’s match at Ottoville.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
OTTOVILLE – Ottoville’s defense pressured Bath from start to finish in its 3-0 shutout victory Monday night.
It was Ottoville’s fourth game in six days, but it didn’t show on the field. They netted two first-half goals and kept keeper Carson Hilvers out of danger by limiting Bath to just two shots in the first 40 minutes.
“The main thing we wanted to do was come out with energy,” said Ottoville head coach Dustin Markward. “In our last game against Ottawa-Glandorf, we jumped out to a two-goal lead and then saw that quickly evaporate in the second half because we got too comfortable with our defense.
“We wanted to really keep the pressure on them (Bath) tonight. We got up 2-0 and had some chances. We wish we could have capitalized on more opportunities tonight to create a little more cushion.”
Ashton Miller found the net for the sixth time this season less than seven minutes into the contest. Nine minutes later, Landon Hortsman played Nick Brandeberry’s corner kick into the back of the net, giving Ottoville a two-score lead at the break.
“We had great scoring opportunities tonight,” Markward said. “Joe Leis hit a perfect ball across to Ashton Miller and Miller had a great finish. Landon (Hortsman) was in the right place at the right time. We know we can get the ball from point A to point B, it’s just a matter of finishing it after a great sequence.”
Bath became more aggressive in the second half, striking a pair of quick shots in the direction of Hilvers.
“In the second half we looked at our formation and thought we needed more help in the midfield, so we moved some guys around and that really opened shots for us,” Bath head coach Levi Smith said. “We got two or three good looks but just could not find the back of the net today.”
Hilvers knocked down all five shots faced on the evening to record his third shutout of the season.
“Carson (Hilvers) makes some great saves for us,” said Markward. “It helps having four solid guys in front of him. They do an excellent job knocking down shots, but Carson has great vision and always has himself in the right position.”
With 13:23 remaining, Jayden Saxton struck gold to push Ottoville’s advantage to three goals.
Landyn Vreeland was under constant attack on Monday evening in the Bath net. The Big Green fired 12 shots and Vreeland knocked down nine of them.
Smith said, “Landyn (Vreeland) is such a quality keeper. During my two years in the WBL, I haven’t seen a keeper better than he is. He keeps us in any game even if we’re getting outshot. It never felt like we were out of it while it was a two-goal game.
Bath (1-2) is off until Thursday when they’ll take on Liberty-Benton. Ottoville (4-1) is now off until Sept. 5 when they’ll visit Bluffton.
Nate Stidham wrote this story for LimaScores.com
