Boys soccer notebook: Bluffton clinches 10th consecutive Northwest Conference title

BLUFFTON — Bluffton’s 5-0 victory on Monday night at Steinmetz Field over Lincolnview extended its Northwest Conference winning streak to 43 games and for the 10th consecutive time, it means the Pirates are the league’s champion.

Since Bluffton became an official soccer member of the NWC in 2015, it has never lost or tied a match against a conference member with a record of 43-0-0.

“The tough thing about coming into these games is that you have a target on your back when you’ve won this many games in a row,” said Bluffton coach Dan Lee. “Coming out, our mindset is that we know everybody is coming to get us and we have to show up and play.”

Senior captain Caleb Davis said, “It’s a great feeling. There’s a lot of pressure to come out and perform but we have guys that put in a lot of work and it’s paying off. We basically play soccer from January to December for moments like this.”

Bluffton (8-6-0, 4-0-0 NWC) struggled to find the back of the net in the first half, but not due to lack of effort. The Pirates fired eleven shots on goal but Lincolnview’s reigning NWC first-team keeper Mason Waltmire was near perfect blocking all but one attempt.

A Lancer handball just outside the goal set up Bluffton’s Jackson Brauen for a penalty kick against Waltmire and Brauen capitalized for the lone first-half tally.

“I was a little nervous going into the kick, but I’ve had a lot of chances this year and I just followed my normal process and when I stepped up, I just took care of business,” Brauen said.

“Jackson is seven of seven or six of six, regardless he’s perfect on penalty kicks this year. The cool thing in that moment for me was that Jackson and Mason have played together and are good friends, so for a second there it was fun to see the friends compete against each other,” said Lee

Lincolnview (3-8-1, 1-2-1 NWC) entered the break with high energy and confidence following a strong defensive half. The Lancers’ lone shot on goal in the first half skimmed inches in front of Pirate keeper Emmitt Kidd before he cleared the ball.

A quick striking effort by the Pirates pushed the game out of reach early into the final 40 minutes.

Levi Antrim and Gavin Amsturz combined for a pair of goals 57 seconds apart, and just five minutes into the second half, Bluffton led 3-0.

Lee said, “They (Lincolnview) played with one sub tonight and we talked about that at halftime. We knew their legs would get heavy and we wanted to make sure we went out and took care of business. When you have the leadership that’s able to do that and put them away that fast, it’s great to have.”

Goal scorers

Several area boys soccer players netted a goal in recent games:

• Levi Antrim (3), Jackson Brauen (2), Ollie Combs, Calvin Derstine, Micah Lemley and Isaiah Kohli scored for Bluffton in a 9-0 win over LCC. Brauen also scored for the Pirates in a 1-0 win over Ottawa-Glandorf.

• Luca Fusillo (2) and Coda Miller scored for Shawnee in a 3-1 win over St. Marys. Fusillo, Coda Miller (2), Caleb Miller (2), and Jake Deitering scored for the Indians in a 6-1 win over Lexington.

• Brady Dingledine scored for St. Marys in a 3-1 loss to Shawnee. Braden Keller, Reid Kantner, Vincent Holtzapple, Bradey Triplett and Rowan Verbyke scored for the Roughriders in a 7-1 win over Kenton.

• Gus Wingfield scored for Kenton in a 1-1 tie with Wapakoneta. Wingfield also scored in a 5-1 loss to Bowling Green.

• Elliot Block scored for Wapakoneta in a 1-1 tie with Kenton.

• Calvin Menke scored for Fort Jennings in a 5-1 loss to Riverdale. Menke and Hudson Maag scored for the Musketeers in a 2-2 tie with Spencerville.

• Rylan Niese scored for Miller City in a 2-1 loss to Van Buren.

• Jon Altieri and AJ Boop scored for Spencerville in a 2-2 tie with Fort Jennings.

• Brayden Van Horn (4), Levi Luke (2), Levi Grime, Peyton Liles, Oscar Webb, Declan Callahan and Wyatt Beck scored for Bath in a 12-2 win over LCC. Liles, Van Horn, Grime and Luke scored for the Wildcats in a 4-0 win over Defiance.

• Simen Johnskareng scored for Defiance in a 1-1 tie with Liberty Center.

• Emmanuel Jokinen-Rutz (2), Josiah Phillips, Isaac Grundisch, Lael Foster and Antoine Cowan scored for Lima Senior in a 6-0 win over Scott.

BOYS SOCCER STANDINGS

Western Buckeye League

`WBL`All

Shawnee`6-0-0`10-1-1

Celina`3-1-0`7-4-0

St. Marys`3-2-0`8-5-0

Bath`2-1-1`5-4-2

Ottawa-Glandorf`2-3-0`5-7-1

Elida`1-2-2`2-4-3

Kenton`1-3-2`4-6-3

Wapakoneta`1-3-1`2-8-2

Defiance`0-4-0`1-9-1

Northwest Conference

`NWC`All

Bluffton`3-0-0`7-6-0

Spencerville`2-1-0`4-6-2

Lincolnview`1-1-1`3-8-1

Allen East`0-1-1`1-9-1

Lima Central Catholic`0-3-0`0-13-0

Putnam County League

`PCL`All

Continental`3-0-1`6-4-2

Kalida`2-1-0`6-3-2

Ottoville`1-0-1`11-1-1

Fort Jennings`0-2-1`4-7-2

Miller City`0-3-1`6-6-1

North Central Ohio Soccer Association

`NCOSA`All

Liberty-Benton`4-0`11-1

Van Buren`3-1`10-1

Riverdale`2-2`6-6-1

Upper Sandusky`2-2`5-7

Ada`1-3`10-4

Cory-Rawson`0-4`1-13

Western Ohio Soccer League

`WOSL`All

Calvary Christian`5-0-0`11-2-1

Botkins`4-0-0`10-1-0

Spencerville`3-1-1`4-6-2

New Knoxville`2-1-2`8-5-1

Jackson Center`2-2-1`8-5-1

Temple Christian`1-2-2`3-7-1

Fairlawn`0-5-0`0-12-0

Lima Central Catholic`0-6-0`0-13-0

RESULTS AND SCHEDULE

Tuesday, Sept. 24

Jackson Center 7, Allen East 0

Lincolnview 2, Cory-Rawson 0

Riverdale 5, Fort Jennings 1

Van Buren 2, Miller City 1

Ottoville 1, New Knoxville 0

Bluffton 9, LCC 0

Elida 6, Defiance 0

Wapakoneta 1, Kenton 1

Shawnee 3, St. Marys 1

Calvary Christian 4, Spencerville 2

Wednesday, Sept. 25

Ada 4, Upper Sandusky 0

Lima Senior 1, Bowsher 0

Thursday, Sept. 26

Celina 5, Lincolnview 0

Bowling Green 5, Kenton 1

Bluffton 1, Ottawa-Glandorf 0

St. Marys 6, Sidney 1

Spencerville 2, Fort Jennings 2

Bryan 5, Continental 3

Botkins 2, Temple Christian 0

Jackson Center 1, LCC 0

Friday, Sept. 27

Ottoville 5, Miller City 0

Saturday, Sept. 28

Bath 12, LCC 2

Defiance 1, Liberty Center 1

Shawnee 6, Lexington 1

Monday, Sept. 30

Bluffton 5, Lincolnview 0

Bath 4, Defiance 0

Elida 4, Wapakoneta 0

St. Marys 7, Kenton 1

Lima Senior 6, Scott 0

Tuesday, Oct. 1

Games ended after The Lima News deadline. Find scores, game stories, photos and more on LimaScores.com.

Kalida at Allen East, 5 p.m.

Continental at Van Buren, 5 p.m.

Miller City at Liberty-Benton, 7 p.m.

Wauseon at Ottoville, 5 p.m.

Spencerville at Botkins, 7 p.m.

Riverdale at Temple Christian, 5 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 2

Lima Senior at Woodward, 5 p.m.

Ada at Cory-Rawson, 5 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 3

Bath at Wapakoneta, 7 p.m.

Celina at Defiance, 7 p.m.

St. Marys at Elida, 7 p.m.

Ottawa-Glandorf at Shawnee, 7 p.m.

Ottawa-Hills at Bluffton, 7 p.m.

Lincolnview at Fort Jennings, 5 p.m.

Miller City at Pettisville, 5 p.m.

Temple Christian at Jackson Center, 5 p.m.

Spencerville at New Knoxville, 5 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 4

Ottoville at Kalida, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 5

Sidney at Lima Senior, 10 a.m.

Indian Lake at Bath, 11 a.m.

New Knoxville at Defiance, 1 p.m.

Kenton at Bellefontaine, 12 p.m.

Allen East at Fort Jennings, 11 a.m.

Lincolnview at Temple Christian, 12 p.m.

Spencerville at Cory-Rawson, 10 a.m.

Miller City at Evergreen, 11 a.m.

Monday, Oct. 7

Waite at Lima Senior, 7 p.m.

Celina at Bluffton, 7 p.m.

St. Marys at Maumme Valley Country Day, 5 p.m.

Allen East at Spencerville, 7 p.m.

LCC at Ada, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 8

Wapakoneta at Lima Senior, 5 p.m.

Temple Christian at Bath, 7 p.m.

Elida at Riverdale, 7 p.m.

Kenton at Kalida, 7 p.m.

Liberty-Benton at Ottawa-Glandorf, 7 p.m.

Continental at Pettisville, 5 p.m.

Ottoville at Fort Jennings, 5 p.m.

Otsego at Miller City, 5 p.m.