GALION — Tuesday evening was a special time at the Galion soccer complex with a ribbon cutting ceremony to dedicate the new field.
“The Galion soccer program began in 2016 and has come a long way in a short time. Our soccer field will be available for years to come,” Galion athletic director Kyle Baughn said. The new complex includes the field laid by Front and Center Turf in Mansfield, bleachers, and a scoreboard. Local soccer supporters, former coaches and players, and district administrators gathered to conduct the dedication ceremony.
On the same night, the Galion girls soccer team hosted Mansfield Senior, losing a tough one 6-0.
Mansfield Senior controlled possession for the majority of the first half and finally broke through at the 13:06 mark. Aubrey Duncan struck for a goal through the right side for the Tygers.
Mansfield Senior would strike again with 7:54 left in the half. Ariauna Merrell was able to beat the Galion goalkeeper and knock the ball over her head to give the Tygers a 2-0 lead at halftime.
The Tygers out-shot Galion 6-1 in the first half.
“Today we had our starting center back out, so we had to put people in difrerent positions,” said Galion head coach Cole Plumb. “When we put people in different positions it ruins our chemistry because you don’t normally practice in those positions.”
Duncan started off the second half with another goal for Mansfield Senior just a couple of minutes into the half. The sophomore was able to get the ball just under the Galion goalie’s hand and into the net.
Just a moment later Merrell was able to beat the Galion defense for another goal.
Duncan completed the hat trick with just under 15 minutes to go as she put it through the top right corner of the goal.
Ariele Merrell got into the action to make it a 6-0 soccer match. Merrell slipped the ball through a tight space on the left side.
Mansfield Senior was able to get off eight shots in the second half, while Galion had one.
“When we got the ball up there I thought we were playing well and had a couple opportunities to score some goals. We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen attacking. The future looks bright there,” Plumb said.
Galion goalkeeper Rilynn Keinath had six saves in the match. Adrianna Zeger was the replacement goalie and had a nice save as well.
Galion has a pair of games left before tournaments and Plumb knows what he wants to see.
“Just improvement. Hopefully, we get our full team back for those two games. We want to work on some things to get us better in time for tournaments,” said Plumb.
Galion plays two road matches to wrap up the regular season. The Lady Tigers travel to Kenton on Saturday and then head to River Valley for the season finale on Tuesday.
Galion is in the Northwest 2 sectional along with Clear Fork, Lexington, Madison, Mansfield Sr., Norwalk, Ontario, Perkins, Shelby, and Vermillion. That tournament is scheduled for Oct. 27 and 30.
