Kenton, Riverdale and Ada girls soccer teams show what they are capable of

By SEAN BLEVINS

DC-U news bureau

ADA — The Kenton, Riverdale and Ada girls soccer teams all showed what they were capable of during Wednesday’s Hogg Creek Soccer League games at Ada’s War Memorial Park. 

Riverdale came from behind to edge Kenton 2-1 in the first game, then topped Ada 3-1 in an 80-minute nightcap. Each team featured a lot of new faces in new places. The summer is for figuring out lineups and each coach was experimenting with putting players in various positions. 

Playing with purpose

It was only a matter of time before the defending district champions opened the floodgates. Riverdale passed with purpose and controlled the possession battle in both games, which helped them get the wins. 

“The biggest thing this year is challenging the girls to respond to what the other team is doing,” Riverdale coach Scott Bash said. “We’ve got to figure out what adjustments or tweaks the other team is doing so we exploit their weaknesses.”

Riverdale senior midfielder Maya Frey and speedy freshman forward Marissa Bonham netted goals minutes apart from each other on breakaways to take a 2-1 lead over Kenton before the first half ended. It took some time for them to break through but they got rolling once the ball touched the back of the net. 

Frey was the most dangerous offensive player in both games, earning her Kenton Times Woman Of The Match honors, although Bonham was not far behind with her combination of pace and finishing. 

The Lady Falcons are going to be a very deep team with great senior leadership this fall. And they have several freshmen ready to make an impact on the pitch from the onset.

“We’ve got some freshmen coming along that are going to really help out. They are right in tune with everybody. Somebody comes in and it’s just a new set of legs out there and we’re doing the same exact stuff. We’ve got a lot of eighth graders and they’re starting to see the high school game better and better,” Bash said. 

Senior center back Eden Barnes will lead the back line again. Junior midfielder Brooke Durenberger expects to return sometime during the season after tearing her ACL the offseason playing club soccer. The two connected to score the game winning goal to shock Bluffton in the district final in 2022.

Three eighth graders received major minutes in their dominant wins over Kenton and Ada. 

Riverdale will host Kenton at 4 p.m. Sept. 2 and return to Ada for a 5 p.m. matchup Sept. 7.

Bonhams control the pitch

Frey buried a shot into the bottom left pocket from 25 yards away to open the scoring against Ada, but it was the Bonham sisters that stole the show in the second half.

Riverdale was in Ada’s attacking half for much of the game. They weren’t able to score in the first half then flipped a switch like they did in their postseason run last year. 

Marissa Bonham smoothly one-timed a long pass into the net for the game’s second goal. She will have plenty of goal-scoring opportunities this fall. She is talented, cerebral and she works hard. 

Mariah Bonham, a junior midfielder, drilled a left-footed shot from five yards outside the box to make it 3-0. Her and Frey were constantly creating offense and setting others up for success, as well as getting their own. 

Brown pleased with progress

It was Kenton’s final Hogg Creek game and coach Toby Brown came away pleased with the progress his team has made since he took the reins a couple months ago. 

“We got a lot of positives out of our eight games this summer,” Brown said. “The girls are building that camaraderie and learning how to work with each other. We had the chance to try several girls at different positions, so we have a pretty good idea of where the girls are going to be playing when we officially start our season next week. All the touches we got are going to propel us into the season.”

Kenton scored first on a 40-yard rip from junior forward Kinze Sprang. The Lady Wildcats played their strongest game of the summer and led Riverdale for nearly 30 minutes. 

“Kinze had a great shot from about 40 yards out, just put it up over the Riverdale goalie [Angelina Sierra]. She can do that anytime. She knows that she’s got free rein to pull the trigger from anywhere on the field,” Brown said. 

The first-year mentor was very complimentary of sophomore defender Addy Haudenschield. 

“She’s going to be huge for us this year. We’ve moved her around a bit on defense, but that is definitely her home. She’s going to be the heart of the defense back there as Emma Hougendobler and Kinze Sprang control the midfield. I’m really excited to see what those girls can do this fall,” Brown said. 

Kenton junior goalkeeper Ruby Styer was stellar, saving multiple breakaway attempts until the Lady Falcons got going offensively. Junior forward Kyla Bostater saw time in goal for the final few minutes of the game after a collision sidelined Styer. 

“Kyla was ready to step in. She’ll be big for us in the midfield, but she is our backup goalie, so if Ruby can’t go she has to be ready. And there’s going to be times in the year where we put Kyla in there to keep her feeling the ball when you get the chance. I’m very happy with how Ruby played back there,” Brown said.

The KHS coach also had praise for sophomore forward Trinity Tracy and junior forward Mia Musser. 

“We had a lot of hustle from Mia Musser tonight. Trinity Tracy was about one step short of getting a shot off. We saw a lot of good stuff out of Trinity Tracy at the Tiffin camp. We had a great time there and one of the things the Heidelberg coach did was work with Trinity on finishing,” Brown said. 

The Lady Wildcats open the season at Allen East on Aug. 11, opening a doubleheader with the boys. They will focus on smoothing out the kinks leading up to it.

“I think we were a little lax with the lead. We have to learn how to extend that lead and that will come with experience, we are a really young team. Riverdale did really well moving the ball around. It will be fun when we play them in the season and see how we both continue to develop,” Brown said. 

Marshall, Burkhart set to lead Ada

Ada senior midfielder Ella Marshall scored the team’s only goal via penalty kick. She led the Lady Bulldogs with 16 goals and was second with seven assists last year.

Senior forward Olivia Burkhart and Marshall’s play will determine how good Ada can be. Burkhart has a small frame, but makes up for it with her IQ and heart. She had seven goals and 13 assists. 

Junior forward Lexi Poling made some great runs on the outside against Riverdale. She posted 10 goals and two assists. 

Ada was 5-13 in 2022 and conceded almost double the amount of the goals they scored. They fell 5-1 at Upper Sandusky in their first tournament game. They won their first four games, then lost 12 of their last 13 to close out the year.

The Lady Bulldogs have eight seniors to work with this year, though, so they are hopeful that they will fare better.