Botkins’ Addyson Klima makes a move with the ball during Monday’s Division V district quarterfinal match against Southeastern in Botkins.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
BOTKINS — The Botkins Trojans girls soccer team knocked off South Charleston Southeastern 7-0 on Monday in a Division V district quarterfinal matchup at Botkins.
“We’ve completely changed how we’re doing things this year,” Botkins head coach Lil Carson said. “They’ve come extremely far. We took some lumps early in the season but they’re responding to what we’re trying to get out of them.”
The Trojans (7-9-1) wasted little time getting on the board when Addison Blindauer found Taylor Huelskamp for a goal with 29:20 to play in the first. Blindauer got her first goal of the game just five minutes later on a loose ball that gave Botkins a 2-0 lead with 24 minutes left in the half.
Later in the first, Blindauer stayed involved when she made a pass to Melena Monnin that led to her first goal of the evening and Blindauers’ second assist.
Monnin notched her second goal of the game just four minutes later, this time on a pass from Huleskamp as the Trojans took a 4-0 lead into halftime.
Botkins stayed hot on the offensive in the second half with two key players getting involved when Monnin hit Blindauer for her second goal of the game that extended the lead to 5-0 with 28:50 to play in the game.
The Trojans kept adding to their lead four minutes later when Norah Homan made a pass to Lilly Bayliss who found the back of the net.
Botkins rounded out the scoring when Delaney Manger nailed a pass to Monnin that allowed her to score her third goal of the evening for a hat trick and gave the Trojans a 7-0 lead they didn’t relinquish.
“It’s finally all coming together,” Carson said. “Melena had a hat trick tonight and she’s been playing defense all year. That’s huge for us, being able to get her more involved in the offense.”
With the win, Botkins advances to host Springfield Catholic Central at Botkins Community Park on Thursday in a Division V district semifinal game.
“We scrimmaged SCC early in the season,” Carson said. “We beat them 1-0, but both teams have improved since then. We can’t go into it thinking it’s going to be an easy one. We’ve made a couple of changes to the lineup so hopefully that’ll solidify things a little bit more.”
Reach assistant editor/sports writer Ryan Harless at 937-538-4651 or follow @RyanHarless_ on X (formerly Twitter).
