CENTERVILLE — On Tuesday, the Ottumwa girls soccer team scored their first win of the season with a 3-0 victory over Centerville.

On Thursday, the Bulldogs again scored the first three goals against their Appanoose County rivals — in the first half. In a rematch on the road with the Redettes, Ottumwa continued to show early-season improvement under first-year head coach Lindsay Safranek by winning their first road game of the season with a 5-0 victory that evened the Bulldogs’ overall record.

“We did a lot of different things on Wednesday with our offense that worked well,” Safranek said. “It really shows the girls are stepping up their skills and learning a lot.”

Kathy Lopez got the Bulldogs’ out to a quick start, scoring in the fourth minute of the match. Valona Aliu and Estelita Barrios added goals of their own late in the first that put Ottumwa up 3-0 before Lopez scored again in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Shayla Robinson joined Lopez with her team-best third goal of the season in the final minute, scoring on a penalty kick in the final minute of the match. Centerville again could not crack the Bulldog defense, forcing Ottumwa goalie Averi Cash to make just three saves.

Nicole Seay had 12 saves to lead Centerville, who falls to 0-4 on the season and will head to Pella Christian on Monday. After two losses to open the season, the Bulldogs (2-2) will look to move past .500 for the first time this season Tuesday at Fairfield.

“The girls understand why we got off to a rocky start,” Safranek said. “If we played Oskaloosa and Mount Pleasant at the beginning of the season, it would be a completely different story. The girls are excited to step it and play after these last two wins.”

Ottumwa 5, Centerville 0

Ott         3    2    —    5

Cent         0    0    —    0

Scoring Summary

Ottumwa — Kathy Lopez goal, 4:00.

Ottumwa — Valona Aliu goal, 25:00.

Ottumwa — Estelita Barrios goal 39:00.

Ottumwa — Lopez goal, 50:00.

Ottumwa — Shayla Robinson goal (PK), 79:00.

Ottumwa: Total Shots — 26 (Robinson 13). Total Saves — 3 (Averi Cash 3). Total Fouls — 2.

Centerville: Total Shots — 3 (Taylor Tieten 3). Total Saves — 12 (Nicole Seay 12). Total Fouls — 0.