Today, the Ottawa-Glandorf girls soccer team will face Akron-Manchester in the Division III semifinals in Shelby in a game they hope to win to earn the rematch they really want.
Today's matchup marks the second straight year that Ottawa-Glandorf (21-1-0) and Akron-Manchester (22-0-0) have met in the state semifinals.OG won last year's matchup, 2-0, but lost to Cincinnati Country Day, 1-0, in the title game.
A rematch between OG and Country Day is also possible, as Country Day (20-2-0) will face Cincinnati Madera (12-5-4) today in the state Division III semifinals in Loveland.
The winner of today's match will play in the Division III final at 7 p.m. Friday at Columbus Mariner Stadium.
In the final poll of the season for Division III girls soccer, Cincinnati Country Day is ranked No. 1, OG is ranked No. 2, and Akron Manchester is ranked No. 3. madera is unranked but has won a state title (2010). country Day won state titles in 2018 and 2019, and was the runner-up in 2016 and 2020.
With solid offenses and tight defenses, Ottawa-Glandorf and Akron-Manchester brought strikingly similar numbers to today's game. Akron Manchester outscored their opponents by 22, 115-7.
Makenn Siefker led the OG offense with 33 goals, followed by Myka Aldrich with 23. Siefker scored a goal in a 3-0 win over the Titans in the regional final, and Aldrich, the Western 7 Conference Player of the Seventh Grade Player of the Season, also scored a goal and contributed an assist for Eastwood. It was the fifth straight tournament elimination for OG goalie Carson and the Titans and their 19th of the season.
Manchester is unbeaten since losing to OG in the state semifinals last year, but the Greyhounds won a close regional final. Goalie Maddie Cox was red-carded 51 minutes into the game, and Manchester used goals from seniors Gina Tipton and Katie Norris and substitute Jadine McKinney to defeat the undefeated Warren Champions.
OG was also missing a key player in Saturday's district final, but for a different reason. Madelyn Hovest, one of the Titans' top defenders and a two-sport athlete, helped the OG team to a fifth-place finish in Saturday's Division II state girls cross country meet in Obertsburg.
