The Buckeye Valley boys soccer team played well defensively, but couldn’t find much rhythm on the offensive end en route to a 1-0 league-opening loss at the hands of visiting Wellington Wednesday night in Delaware.

“We worked very hard tonight,” BV coach Eric Staley said. “Both teams played sound defense. Zach (Church) and Neil (Boyles) were strong in the middle. Jack (Kaiser) really controlled the midfield defensively. Alex (Brown) was really active. Brayden (Fox) and Max (Cottrell) had strong games. We just couldn’t create enough chances.”

Wellington’s William Starker poured in the game’s lone goal off a restart in the 45th minute.

Buckeye Valley keeper Sam Otto finished with two saves, as did Wellington’s Aurius Calloway.

GIRLS SOCCER

Buckeye Valley opened league play with a win, taking care of host Bishop Rosecrans 3-1 Wednesday night.

Molly Meier scored a pair of goals and Grace Daily found the back of the net once for the Barons.

Sydnee Maxwell scored the Bishops’ lone goal.

Buckeye Valley returns to action Wednesday against visiting Columbus Academy.

COLLEGE FIELD HOCKEY

Ohio Wesleyan was predicted to finish in second place and Denison University was the preseason favorite in balloting by North Coast Athletic Conference field hockey coaches in their 2021 preseason poll.

Denison, which shared the NCAC championship and won the NCAC tournament in 2019, collected 7 of the 9 first-place votes and 79 points in the poll. Ohio Wesleyan, which shared the NCAC championship in 2019, garnered one first-place vote and finished second with 68 points, while Kenyon, which shared the NCAC championship in 2019, received the final first-place vote and had 63 points. DePauw finished fourth with 53 points, followed by Wittenberg (48), Earlham (38), Wooster (23), Allegheny (22), and Oberlin (11).

Ohio Wesleyan opens its season on Wednesday when the Bishops host Kenyon in a non-conference contest at 7 p.m. at Selby Stadium.