Girls soccer: Morgan Clements scores lone goal for Ottawa in 4-1 loss to Rochelle

OTTAWA – Ottawa’s girls soccer team had to battle a solid Rochelle team and a strong steady wind in their face in the first half of Wednesday’s Interstate 8 Conference match.

As the team switched ends at King Field for the second half, the Pirates (1-4, 0-2) were able to create numerous chances in the offensive end but could only find the back the net once in an eventual 4-1 loss to the Hubs.

Ottawa coach Sean Porter saw many positives from the game.

“As far as the group goes, I saw a lot of progress today,” Porter said. “We had a plan coming into today’s match, and I feel like the girls put what we wanted to do into action. They did a good job of anticipating plays instead of reacting and then having to catch up.”

Rochelle (3-3, 1-0) scored its first goal just over three minutes in on a 15-yard strike from Kara Martinez off an assist from Mavi Avila. Ottawa nearly tied the game a minute later, but Sophia Falaney’s 20-yard shot for the left wing sailed just wide of the weakside post.

The Hubs added goals from Makayla Lara off a corner kick in the 14th minute and Sydney Thorne in the 38th minute to hold a 3-0 halftime lead.

“I feel like this was our best match of the season so far despite the loss.”

—  Ottawa senior Morgan Clements

“Despite going against the wind, we created a couple of chances right away, but then we got caught on some counter attacks by Rochelle, and they were able to turn those into goals,” Porter said. “The goals Rochelle scored were all solid goals, but I also think we started playing more tentative as the half went along.”

Ottawa scored 10 minutes into the second half as senior Morgan Clements stole a clearing pass in the Rochelle third, dribbled past one defender and put a shot from the top of the penalty box past the Hubs’ keeper and into the low-left corner of the net.

“I knew the keeper was probably going to come out at some point, but I also had a defender running behind me,” Clements said. “As soon as the keeper committed to coming towards me, I was able to chip the ball to her right and fortunately into the net.

“It was really tough going into the wind in the first half ... it just seemed so much harder to get the ball moving forward.

“I feel like this was our best match of the season so far despite the loss. We tried a new formation today, and it seems to work well for only having one practice to really work on it. [The new alignment] seems to create a few more chances then in previous games, so hopefully we’ll stick with and get better in it.”

Rochelle was able to get that goal back five minutes later as Kailey Harris scored on a 15-yard strike off another counterattack.

Ottawa’s Kindley Moore and Taylor Brandt each had a couple of solid chances stopped in the final 20 minutes of the match.

The Hubs held a 16-12 advantage in total shots, including 8-6 in on net chances.

The freshman duo of Shae Miller (first) and Olivia Davis (second) each played a half in net for the Pirates, each making two saves.

“It wasn’t an easy day to play with the wind and cold,” Moore said. “The girls did an excellent job of staying positive throughout the first half, and then I felt did a good job of using the wind to our advantage in the second half.

“We were able to generate some chances overall, now the next step is converting those chances into goals.”

Ottawa plays at Coal City at 10 a.m. Saturday before traveling for back-to-back rivalry matches against La Salle-Peru and Streator on Monday and Tuesday.