In the early match of our weekend Panther Invitational Tournament, the girls dominated possession and came out with a convincing 3-0 victory over Ortonville-Brandon. The Bulldog defense limited their opponents to just five shots on frame, and all were relatively easily dealt with by Junior keeper Ambre Powell who recorded her second clean sheet of the year.

The Otsego attack found finishing a bit of a struggle early on, but were creating some excellent chances and spreading the ball around well. The breakthrough came when Junior Alison Diller got the ball at her feet, beat three Brandon defenders on the dribble, and slotted it back across the frame to Junior Cait Kitchen for the opening goal. That combo proved effective once again a few minutes later, when Kitchen turned provider on Diller's goal. Cait checked back toward the ball in the midfield to begin a counter-attack and deceptively shielded her marker off the ball and let it run toward the halfline. Quickly turning to get back on the ball, she caught sight of Alison's run cutting into a channel and threaded a pass right into her run and it was all but over from there. Diller coolly took three touches toward the Brandon net and tucked the ball to the side of the onrushing goalkeeper. 

Senior Captain Grace VerHage capped the performance with a beautifully struck goal from 23 yards out. Grace helped control the game in the midfield for the Dawgs, and was one of the most influential players on the field. Her passing efficiency opened so many doors for her team, and this was a goal she certainly deserved after a few chances went just wide off her boot earlier in the match.