ONTARIO - Coach Larry Atkinson and his staff wondered where the goals would come from this fall. "That was our big question," he said. "We had everybody back on defense — plus a girl that hasn't played the last couple years back — so we knew we'd be solid there. "Where are we going to get the shots from? Where are we going to get some goals from?" ARROWS RUN RAMPANT! Ashland boys soccer routs Ontario in emphatic season opening win It took just 30 seconds for Ontario to record its first shot on goal Friday evening and less than nine minutes to put the ball in the back of the net for the first time in the Warriors' 4-2 win over Ashland.
"I think we came out really strong," freshman Keatyn Kilgore said. "We have some stuff to work on because it's the beginning of the season, but I feel like we came out strong and put it together. But we have a lot to work on still." There is a lot to work on, sure. But there's a lot to be impressed with already with Kilgore netting a brace, senior Braelyn Llewellyn and sophomore Mia Moton also joined in on the scoring, and Maia Fox had an assist. "We had a chance to score a goal in the first 30 seconds ... and I think we had 20 shots on goal, which is a lot," Atkinson said. "We have to get more efficient, but the field was sloppy and that hurt us because we have speed. We like to move the ball and it just wore them out because you're stepping into something deep, you're going down in the ground, it's hard on your legs, but we persevered and got through it. "Then every time we scored, they would come back. We finally got the two-goal lead and kept that ... we made a goalie mistake and we can't have that, can't give anybody a free goal. But overall, for our first game after the summer we've had, I'm very pleased." Llewellyn opened the scoring in the 9th minute before Kilgore doubled the advantage in the 26th. Just before the half, though, Ashland junior Mia Gonzalez pulled one back tapping in a cross from senior Aliviah Sauder. Moton finished off a counterattack four minutes into the second half to restore the two-goal lead before Gonzalez struck again two minutes later. Kilgore latched onto a through ball from Fox in the 58th minute as a buffer goal, and the Warriors would then lean on defense to close out the win.
"We could have had a lot more goals, we just need to work on some stuff and our finishing," Kilgore said. "We missed some shots we should have made, but we'll chalk it up to nerves for the first game or the conditions," Atkinson added. "We have a week to get ready for Lexington and see what we need to work on." For the Arrows, there's a lot coach Lee Hunt wants to work on after the first match. "We started a little slower than I wanted to," he said. "There were some bright spots in the game at times ... we'll go back to work this week before we play again Thursday." Gonzalez's brace was the highlight for Ashland and flashes of the team's potential were on display. "There's a lot of could have on this team, there's a lot of reasons to be excited for what this team can do throughout the season," Hunt said. "It's a long season and this is just game one." zholden@gannett.com | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Young starlets power Ontario past Ashland in season opener