By Cort Reynolds
The top-seeded Bluffton High School girls soccer team defeated Mansfield Christian 5-2 in their Div. III district semifinal match at Steinmetz Field Tuesday night, October 25.
The Pirate girls improved to 16-2 with the convincing win. They will face third seed Riverdale (11-5-2) in the district finals Saturday, October 29 at Steinmetz Field. The game starts at 3 p.m.
The Mansfield Christian Flames ended up 9-9-2 after the defeat.
Bluffton built a 4-0 lead and never trailed.
Sami Scoles assisted Riley Eachus on a left-footed, left side shot from 10 yards out that hit the back of the net to provide a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.
In the 20th minute, Blair Utendorf tallied a goal on a short left-footed shot off an Aubrey Burkholder assist to put the Pirate girls ahead, 2-0.
The score stayed 2-0 to intermission.
Scoles then scored two quick goals in the 47th minute to give Bluffton complete control at 4-0. Allison Diller assisted the first goal, and then Kendal Giesige passed out the second assist.
MC's Noelle Beare got the Flames on the scoreboard with a goal in the 63rd minute. Two minutes later, her teammate Abby Little netted a goal to cut the Pirate lead in half at 4-2.
But Diller put the game out of reach with a goal in the 76th minute off a Jordan Schweingruber assist.
The Pirates put 15 of their 25 shots on goal. MC directed six of its eight shots on goal.
Bluffton keeper Julia Mehaffie was credited with four saves. Flame keeper Abigail Heininger made 10 stops.
Riverdale pulled a minor upset in beating second seed Van Buren 2-1 in the first district semifinal bout Tuesday evening at Bluffton.
The Riverdale/Bluffton winner will advance to the regional semifinals.
Bluffton lost 1-0 at home to Riverdale 1-0 on Sept. 10. That was their last defeat. Since then, the Pirate girls have won 10 matches in a row.
