A brisk east wind played havoc all game long as Continental took on Miller City in the annual Kickin’ Cancer Putnam County League game. There was going to be no scoring in the east goal as the wind was knocking down any attempt. The Pirates started the game off defending the East goal and had the wind at their back as they attacked the host Wildcat goal. Although the ball spent a good portion of the first half in the Wildcat half the Pirates were limited in their opportunities to put up shots on goal.
The second half the Pirates were defending the west goal and it was the Wildcats time to try to use it to their advantage. The Wildcats put up a number of shots which were saved by Pirate goalie Mackenzie Niese. The ball would catch the wind and change directions on the Pirate goalie but Niese was their to capture them. With 16:09 left in the game, a cross to the center caught the wind and was pushed to a Wildcat forward who was able to kick the ball to the back of the net. The wind pretty much took away any Pirate offense the rest of the game. Wildcats 1-0.
Mackenzie Niese took the loss for the Pirates in goal with 9 saves. Miller City outshot the Pirates 19 (10 on goal) to 2 (1 on goal). Both teams had a single corner kick.
Continental falls to 5-6-1 (1-1-0) and will host Archbold, another OHSAA DIII Evergreen District team, on Tuesday. Miller City, also assigned to the OHSAA DIII Evergreen District, improves to 8-1-1 (3-0-1 PCL).
–Mike Jones, Sportswriter
