Allison Diller scored two second half goals and the Bluffton girls soccer team blanked visiting Riverdale 2-0 in a tight Div. III district semifinal match Tuesday night, October 26, at Bluffton.
The Pirate girls improved to 14-3-1 with the victory.
Third-seeded Bluffton advances to take on top-seeded Liberty-Benton in the district finals at Bluffton Saturday, Oct. 30 at 3 p.m.
L-B (12-4-2) beat fourth seed Ashland Crestview 5-1 Tuesday night in the other district semi.
Fifth-seeded Riverdale had upset second seed Mansfield Christian 1-0 to reach the district level. The Lady Falcons ended up 9-8-2 after the defeat.
The teams battled through a scoreless first half, and the score remained 0-0 almost midway through the second half.
Pirate junior Diller then broke the 0-0 tie with a goal in the 59th minute off an assist from senior Reagan Mittendorf.
Three minutes later, Diller tallied again on a feed from junior Makayla Schweingruber to give Bluffton breathing room at 2-0.
The Bluffton defense preserved the shutout to earn the victory.
The Pirate offense fired 17 shots, six of which were on goal. The Falcon girls got off nine shots, four of which were on goal.
Bluffton junior keeper Julia Mehaffie made four saves in goal. The Riverdale keeper stopped four Pirate shots.
The Pirate girls had tied Riverdale 1-1 previously this season September 11 at Mt. Blanchard.
The Bluffton/L-B district winner will advance to the regional semifinals vs. the Pemberville Eastwood/Millbury Lake district champion from Genoa November 2. The regional finals are set for Nov. 6.
