Perrysburg senior Maci Maxwell, middle, moves the ball against Anthony Wayne defenders Kiana Harsh, left, and Anna Rasmusson during the first half of a match Wednesday at Steinecker Field in Perrysburg.

Scott W. Grau | Sentinel-Tribune

PERRYSBURG — Over the last three years Anthony Wayne girls soccer has had Perrysburg’s number, so the Yellow Jackets thought this was the year they could turn that around.

Only problem was, the Yellow Jackets were playing without Michigan State University commit and senior striker Adelle Francis, who was serving a suspension from a red card.

As a result, the Yellow Jackets and Generals played to a scoreless stalemate Wednesday in a key Northern Lakes League matchup at Steinecker Stadium.

Perrysburg, ranked second in the Division I state coaches’ poll, stays unbeaten at 10-0-2, including 3-0-2 in the NLL. AW, ranked 15th, is 7-1-5 and 2-1-2.

“For the last three years these kids have had a hard time against Anthony Wayne because they have had a beautiful team,” Perrysburg coach Jorge Diaz said. “Some of those (AW) kids graduated, and our senior class is very good.”

Diaz was pleased with what he saw from his team without Francis, who leads the Yellow Jackets with 45 points on 21 goals and three assists,

“Not having Adelle didn’t help because she is a tremendous scorer, but at the same time, I’m just grateful my team was able to compete against this team without her. That prepares us for the tournament,” Diaz said. “We had to battle, and it was a beautiful game, too, as a coach to watch the kids play. They had some good chances.

“Our goalie (sophomore Elizabeth Motter) was strong, and our defense was strong as well. I think it is a fair result. Although we had a bit more possession, we didn’t have as many shots as I would have wanted to.”

Because of Francis’ absence, Diaz made adjustments that he thought would help, and his players had opportunities as Perrysburg outshot AW, 11-8.

“I had to rotate three or four people — at forward, (senior) Caroline Thomas — she helped out,” Diaz said. “We have a freshman (striker), Emma (Ogdahl), coming from the bench. She’s the one who took that shot at the end.

“I think some people are stepping up, and we are more comfortable without Adelle in that regard, to be able to do that. Now with Adelle (back) in there (next game) and with the way we played I think we are going to be unstoppable.”

The Generals had eight shots on goal to Perrysburg’s seven, but proof of Perrysburg’s offensive dominance showed in that the Generals had to boot 26 goal kicks and punts, while the Jackets had just 12 GK.

“For the most part we did (dominate possession). The Anthony Wayne goalie (sophomore Addie Bell) played very well. They had a very good defensive scheme,” Diaz said.

AW coach Lori Williams said she put most of her team’s marbles into trying to stop Perrysburg’s offense.

“We talked about how they are very sure with the ball and very technical, so we talked about organization,” Williams said.

“I thought our girls executed the game plan very well. We know that they might have the ball a little bit more, and so we looked for combinations to sprint out of that,” Williams continued. “We thought defensively we were very stout, and our 11 players defended, as goofy as that may sound, with forwards all the way back.”

“Sprinting out” meant countering, and the Generals did that well with speed up front, especially in state qualifying track star Mallori Pollock, who ran past defenders to force a one-on-one with Motter, but Motter made a diving save.

“Mallori Pollock has had a really special season for us this year,” Williams said. “She is our speedy captain, and you can see that on the field just by her play, right?

“She and (senior) Mallory Smucker have both had a real strong season. The chemistry has been fantastic.

“Pollock created that chance because of guts. Certainly, she’s pacey, but she’s worked so much on her technical ability, and I thought that was on display today.”

Both teams had shots that struck the crossbar — a few inches either way could have meant the winning score. But Williams said her team played its best game of the year.

“I was so proud of their effort tonight. Not that their effort has not been good all season, but I just felt like Perrysburg is such a special team,” Williams said.

“Even without one of their better players, they are unbelievably dangerous with the other eight seniors. I thought out girls came out and put together, I thought, our best 80 minutes of soccer.”