The Olentangy Berlin girls soccer team just keeps winning, most recently blanking host Olentangy Liberty 2-0 in a battle of two of the area’s top teams Tuesday night in Powell.
The Bears, who improved to 12-0 with the win, were the fourth-ranked team in the most recent Division I OSSCA state soccer poll. The Patriots (5-2-4), off to a strong start of their own, were 14th.
None of that mattered when the teams took the field, obviously, but they looked to be pretty even in the early going. Combination play between Berlin’s Reese Hinkle and Fina Davy gave Davy a decent look, but Liberty keeper Taylor Thomas made a nice save to keep things scoreless seven minutes into the action.
Mackenzie Borden had Liberty’s first decent look with 28 minutes left in the opening half, but the Bears’ Claire Walden was there for the save as the teams traded chances early.
The Patriots’ Lexie Mitchem collected a steal in Bear territory eight minutes later, but her close-range rocket was again saved by Walden.
Things stayed scoreless until early in the second half, when Berlin took advantage of what was a rare set piece. After seeing Liberty earn four times as many corner kicks in the first half (4-1), the Bears got one early in the second following a nice run by Cameryn Susey … and took full advantage.
Erin Hudson sent the ball into the box and, after falling into the middle of a crowd, Roisin Kennedy poked it into the back of the net to give her team a 1-0 edge five minutes into the second half.
Liberty tried to get back to even with a couple corners of its own, but neither of the solid services from Teigan Casey were hammered home.
After the Patriots failed to get an equalizer, the Bears slammed the door with their second goal of the game as Susey scored an insurance goal with just under 10 minutes to play.
Next up, Olentangy Berlin will return to conference play when it hosts Dublin Jerome Thursday night at 7 p.m. Liberty will also play a league game Thursday at 7 p.m., slated to travel to Hilliard Bradley.
Delaware Hayes 1, Westerville Central 1
The Pacers (3-7-1) were solid in Tuesday night’s non-league showdown in Delaware, getting a goal from Elise Buckerfield to earn a 1-1 draw with the visiting Warhawks (10-3-1).
Hayes keeper Cali Kent had six saves.
BOYS SOCCER
Freshman Timmy Ragiel staked Buckeye Valley to a 1-0 lead, scoring his first-career goal off a feed from J.P. Seliskar in the second minute as Buckeye Valley notched a 3-0 win over visiting River Valley Monday night in Delaware.
The Barons (5-4) added two more first-half goals to smooth out the scoring summary. Michael Riley converted a corner kick from Kaiden Coup in the 24th minute and Coup scored off a nice pass from Vander Webb less than 10 minutes later to account for the final margin.
Also: Olentangy Liberty 3, Canal Winchester 0.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Ohio Wesleyan 4, Marietta 1.
