Girls soccer: Bulldogs wrap up regular season
May 17—OTTUMWA — It wasn't quite the way the Ottumwa High School girls soccer team wanted their final home match to end.
It does speak volumes, however, to the fact the Bulldogs considering it a disappointing night to lose a close match to a winning team.
Charice Auwerda's goal with 13:01 left in regulation ultimately lifted Mount Pleasant to a 2-1 win on Monday night at Schafer Stadium, somewhat spoiling Senior Night for the Bulldogs. The slim loss, however, could not take away from what has been a historically successful season for the program including the first winning regular-season record posted in program history.
"We finally have the mentality that we expect to win. That's a different culture than what's been here before," Ottumwa head girls soccer coach Matthew Erlandson said. "The girls tied the school record for most wins in a season (7), most goals in a season (43), most assists in a season (25), most points in a season (112), most shutouts in a season (5), largest margin of victory in a season (10), most goals in a season by an individual (16 by Mia Garza-Trejo).
"You look at all that these girls have accomplished. There's a lot to be proud of. I keep reminding them not to get hung up by the result of one match. They've accomplished a tremendous amount throughout the season that no other team has accomplished before."
Ottumwa (7-6) had chances early and often against the Panthers, finishing with a 19-9 edge in total shots. Mount Pleasant, however, found a way to frustrate the Bulldogs at the end of their offensive runs with sophomore midfielder Sonya Simon tackling the ball away from Garza-Trejo and Ilana Vasconez, who combined entered the match with 26 goals in 12 matches.
"Mount Pleasant had the strategy of putting six or seven people back and hope for a goal out front," Erlandson said. "We knew coming in they were going to play that way. We played it fairly well. We just struggled a little bit playing the ball to our feet. We weren't quite connecting on the final third."
As a result, the Panthers and Bulldogs battled through a scoreless first half. Less than five minutes into the second half, Tori Wilson took advantage of an Ottumwa turnover moving in to power the first goal of the game past OHS senior goalie Lizeth Lopez giving Mount Pleasant a 1-0 lead.
In previous years, that might have started an avalanche of goals a Bulldog opponent. Ottumwa, however, quickly righted the ship against the Panthers getting right back on the attack ultimately finding the equalizer in the 50th minute as a breakaway score by Vasconez.
"Not once did you see our girls get down on each other, bicker with each other, argue with each other. The way they've approached things as the season has gone along, I've seen so many girls step up leadership-wise to make sure things were going well for us," Erlandson said. "The effort the girls put in for our seniors makes me happy to see them grow as players and as good people."
Ottumwa challenged the Panthers multiple times over the final 30 minutes. Garza-Trejo led the Bulldogs with nine shots, but could not get a ball past Mount Pleasant freshman goal keeper Eli Heaton who came up with eight saves.
After swarting several chances by the Bulldogs in the second half, Mount Pleasant (10-5) took advantage of a run to the net in the 67th minute. Auwerda took possession of the ball up the sideline and made a run up the field getting a half-step ahead of the Ottumwa defense before firing a shot past Lopez for what proved to be the decisive goal of the match.
"It was devastating at the end that we lost, but I think we all put in as much effort as we could," Ottumwa senior Grace Stowe said. "We didn't give up on the field. We knew we could win this game. Mount Pleasant was just heavy on the backs, which killed us as forwards."
Ottumwa will have one more chance to not only set a new program record for single-season victories with eight, but will have a chance to advance to a regional final for the first time in program history next week. The Bulldogs head to Waukee (7-6) for the Class 3A, Region 6 semifinals next Tuesday night.
"I'm still so proud of these girls. We are a great team," Stowe said. "We'll come back from this. We've never experienced this kind of success. We're going to be more prepared and more on the attack next week. I don't think anyone should think they're just going to beat us because we're Ottumwa. They should be prepared to fight for it just like we're going to."
Stowe was one of four seniors honored on Monday prior to the final home match of the season. Mariana Fernandez Tellez, Stephanie Sagal-Cordova and Lopez were also honored as members of Ottumwa's Class of 2023.
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
