Fairfield Lions earn 3rd win of season; defeat Williamsburg
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — For the third time this season, the Fairfield Lions earned a regular-season win, and on Tuesday they did so by scoring early in the first half, then using a very strong defensive effort the rest of the way.
The Lions (3-7) defeated the visiting Williamsburg Wildcats of the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Athletic Conference by a 1-0 score at Fairfield High School.
Fairfield’s lone goal came with 30:02 left in the first half as Jordan Cameron sent the ball into the back of the net off an assist from Wyatt Willey. The goal was the second of the season for Cameron, and the assist by Willey was his first of the season.
[[In-content Ad]]
“We had a great first 10 minutes, with the goal from Jordan, but from there we kind of slacked off and then got into a lull a little bit, and toward the end of the half we kind of let it get to us,” FHS head coach Jacob Alexander said. “At halftime, we came out and said we have to focus.
“We didn’t have (Koben) Zink for the entire second half, and that messed up our offense some, but defensively everyone who played on the back line did excellent. Tucker Watson filling in, he’s our utility player right now. If I have him play midfield he’ll go out there and give it his all, and the same if he goes on back line. Justin Sowders and Hunter Burns on the back line really worked well in the second half as the center backs for us. Cody Ayers and Bryce McVay both played outside back, and they played it well.”
Though Lions held a one-goal lead, the work was just beginning for the host Lions as Williamsburg played strong and never let up against the Lions. In one instance, with 13:13 left in the first half the Wildcats attempted to score a goal, and nearly did, but a diving stop by FHS keeper James Bentley voided that goal-scoring chance, keeping the Lions ahead by one goal. Bentley finished the match with 10 saves. For the season, Bentley now has 89 saves.
“James Bentley came out of nowhere tonight,” Alexander said. “He’s had a couple games where he’s been down on himself, but tonight I said to him he had the best high school save I’ve ever seen with one arm extended. You can’t ask much more from him tonight. He did it all.”
The halftime lead stood at 1-0, and in the second half neither team added goals to their side of the scoreboard, but it wasn’t for a lack of action by either the Lions or Wildcats.
The Fairfield defense was busy in the second half, and with around 28 minutes left on the second-half clock, the Lions defense stepped up and made a nice stop. Next came another big stop by the home team with Fairfield’s Ayers deflecting the ball away from the goal around the 23:40 mark.
Williamsburg had a corner kick opportunity with 17:14 on the clock, but again the Lions defense didn’t allow the ball to pass them, sending it out of their territory and back to the middle of the field. There was another stop by Bentley at the 8:38 mark with the Wildcats nearly having a goal yet again.
The Lions began to put more pressure on the Wildcats with their offense but were unable to add another goal around the 7:30 mark. The Lions yet again had another stop of their defense, this time with Justin Sowders making a stop with a leaping header near the goal off a Williamsburg kick.
Jon Bentley also made one final stop for FHS, sending the ball away as time expired to seal the one-goal win for Fairfield.
This season, the Lions have defeated not only Williamsburg, but have also defeated West Union (5-4) on Aug. 23 and Piketon (4-2) on Sept. 14.
“Give it to Williamsburg, they played their hearts out. If one ball would have bounced another way they might have tied it up, or have a second ball bounce another way and they could have won it,” Alexander said. “They are a quality opponent with our skill levels against each other, so it made for a competitive game.”
Next for the Lions is another non-conference match against Piketon, which will be held at FHS on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. From there, the Lions will host the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs on Friday, Sept. 27 in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference match at 6:30 p.m.
The Lions (3-7) defeated the visiting Williamsburg Wildcats of the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Athletic Conference by a 1-0 score at Fairfield High School.
Fairfield’s lone goal came with 30:02 left in the first half as Jordan Cameron sent the ball into the back of the net off an assist from Wyatt Willey. The goal was the second of the season for Cameron, and the assist by Willey was his first of the season.
[[In-content Ad]]
“We had a great first 10 minutes, with the goal from Jordan, but from there we kind of slacked off and then got into a lull a little bit, and toward the end of the half we kind of let it get to us,” FHS head coach Jacob Alexander said. “At halftime, we came out and said we have to focus.
“We didn’t have (Koben) Zink for the entire second half, and that messed up our offense some, but defensively everyone who played on the back line did excellent. Tucker Watson filling in, he’s our utility player right now. If I have him play midfield he’ll go out there and give it his all, and the same if he goes on back line. Justin Sowders and Hunter Burns on the back line really worked well in the second half as the center backs for us. Cody Ayers and Bryce McVay both played outside back, and they played it well.”
Though Lions held a one-goal lead, the work was just beginning for the host Lions as Williamsburg played strong and never let up against the Lions. In one instance, with 13:13 left in the first half the Wildcats attempted to score a goal, and nearly did, but a diving stop by FHS keeper James Bentley voided that goal-scoring chance, keeping the Lions ahead by one goal. Bentley finished the match with 10 saves. For the season, Bentley now has 89 saves.
“James Bentley came out of nowhere tonight,” Alexander said. “He’s had a couple games where he’s been down on himself, but tonight I said to him he had the best high school save I’ve ever seen with one arm extended. You can’t ask much more from him tonight. He did it all.”
The halftime lead stood at 1-0, and in the second half neither team added goals to their side of the scoreboard, but it wasn’t for a lack of action by either the Lions or Wildcats.
The Fairfield defense was busy in the second half, and with around 28 minutes left on the second-half clock, the Lions defense stepped up and made a nice stop. Next came another big stop by the home team with Fairfield’s Ayers deflecting the ball away from the goal around the 23:40 mark.
Williamsburg had a corner kick opportunity with 17:14 on the clock, but again the Lions defense didn’t allow the ball to pass them, sending it out of their territory and back to the middle of the field. There was another stop by Bentley at the 8:38 mark with the Wildcats nearly having a goal yet again.
The Lions began to put more pressure on the Wildcats with their offense but were unable to add another goal around the 7:30 mark. The Lions yet again had another stop of their defense, this time with Justin Sowders making a stop with a leaping header near the goal off a Williamsburg kick.
Jon Bentley also made one final stop for FHS, sending the ball away as time expired to seal the one-goal win for Fairfield.
This season, the Lions have defeated not only Williamsburg, but have also defeated West Union (5-4) on Aug. 23 and Piketon (4-2) on Sept. 14.
“Give it to Williamsburg, they played their hearts out. If one ball would have bounced another way they might have tied it up, or have a second ball bounce another way and they could have won it,” Alexander said. “They are a quality opponent with our skill levels against each other, so it made for a competitive game.”
Next for the Lions is another non-conference match against Piketon, which will be held at FHS on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. From there, the Lions will host the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs on Friday, Sept. 27 in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference match at 6:30 p.m.