Girls soccer: Bulldogs focus on defensive work in loss to Ames
May 8—OTTUMWA — Last week, offensive execution was the name of the game for Ottumwa head girls soccer coach Shayla Robinson.
This week, the Bulldogs focused on defense, putting a new formation into action on Friday against 13th-ranked (3A) Ames.
Ottumwa continues working on the steps needed to grow into a successful program on the level of teams like the Little Cyclones, who fired 37 shots in 40 minutes at Schafer Stadium clinching a 10-0 win in one half of a Central Iowa Metropolitan League crossover contest. One week after getting 25 shots off in a 5-2 loss to Des Moines Hoover, the Bulldogs tried their best to slow down the fifth-highest scoring team in Class 3A as a defensive focus kept Ottumwa from getting the ball within 30 yards of Ames goalkeeper Preksha Sarda.
"We knew this was going to have to be way more of a defensive game. I wanted to set this up for the girls to focus on who they're defending out there," Robinson said. "The score, to me, doesn't matter. Every single person stepped up. The defense was phenomenal tonight. That's all I could ask for."
Ottumwa kept Ames (8-3) off the scoreboard for nearly five minutes, forcing the Little Cyclones to fire shots that were wide of the net. Lizeth Lopez, making her fourth start in goal for the Bulldogs made 13 saves including several stiff shots that challenged the OHS sophomore physically.
Ames finally broke through on the scoreboard after a hard shot fired off Lopez by Natalie Theon knocked the Bulldog netminder down, allowing Cameron Moon to put the rebound home. It would be almost 10 minutes before Ames would score for a second time in the match as Moon scored on a feed from Maddy Badding, giving the Little Cyclones a 2-0 lead.
"We wanted to put two sweepers in front of our defense to help them out a little more in case our offense gets beat," Robinson said. "We have those two sweepers watching the forwards. They did a really good job focusing on who is going to make those runs and who is going to make those passes into the center."
Moon clinched a hat trick by scoring for a third time in 16th minute before finding Thoen for a goal just 33 seconds later, giving Ames a 4-0 lead. The Little Cyclones continued to press Ottumwa offensively, scoring five more goals in an eight-minute span to build a nine-goal lead before finally clinching the 10-goal victory on a score by Kate Spiker in the 36th minute.
"We've been trying some new things. We even practiced against the (Ottumwa) boys and tested ourselves physically," Robinson said. "I think this formation has allowed us to step up the pressure defensively. It's made the girls want the ball even more. I think this is the formation we're going to stick with going forward."
Going forward, Ottumwa (2-9) will host a pair of CIML Metro conference rivals next week. The Bulldogs welcome Des Moines Lincoln to town on Tuesday before Des Moines Roosevelt pays a visit to Schafer Stadium on Thursday.
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
