Girls Soccer Preview: Highland County set to showcase Lynchburg-Clay and Fairfield in D3 Regional Semifinals

Highland County is guaranteed one team in the Division III regional championship game this Saturday, but which team that will be has yet to be decided. For the first time ever, Highland County had two district champions in Division III in the same year, meaning the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs and the Fairfield Lady Lions will be facing each other on Tuesday, Oct. 31 with the winner advancing to the Elite Eight.

Fairfield reached the regional semifinal game — which will be played at Zane Trace High School — by winning in overtime last week in their district final game over the Minford Lady Falcons by a 2-1 score.

Lynchburg-Clay reached the regional semifinal game for a fifth straight season by winning their district championship with a 2-0 score over North Adams.

With both teams not only being Highland County counterparts, but members of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, the Lady Mustangs and Lady Lions have a lot of history facing each other, including this season where LCHS defeated Fairfield 5-1 en route to clinching a SHAC championship. Fairfield finished second in the conference standings, with that being their lone SHAC loss.

During the ’23 regular season, LCHS played Fairfield close for one half, but in the second half they were able to break away for a 5-1 victory. In 19 of the past 21 meetings between the two schools, Lynchburg-Clay has held the advantage with a 19-1-1 record, with the loss coming in 2009 in the sectional finals as FHS won a shootout, 2-1. The tied score was a little more recent, as a regular-season meeting in ’21 saw the Lady Lions and Lady Mustangs tie at 0-0. That postseason, LCHS won against FHS in the sectional finals, 6-1.

That’s all in the past, and all that matters is the present, and that is Tuesday night at Zane Trace High School in the regional semifinals. Here is how each team got to this point of the ’23 season.

LYNCHBURG-CLAY (Head Coach: Dennis West)

Overall Record: 14-0-4
SHAC Record: 5-0-1 (1st Place)
Postseason Record: 3-0
Goals Leader: Jade Massey, 40 (senior)
Assists Leaders: Jade Massey, 9; Aubrey Slack, 9 (junior); Lainie Lunsford, 9 (senior)
Saves Leader: Caitlyn Collins, 47 (sophomore)

This season has been one where the defense of the Lady Mustangs has been a big focal point. That’s saying something, as the offense of LCHS — the Division III No. 6 state-ranked team — has scored 76 goals in 18 games played thus far, but the defense of the LCHS has allowed just seven goals in those same 18 games, an they haven’t allowed any goals in their past five games, dating back to Oct. 10.

The current scoreless streak for the Lady Mustangs’ opponents started with a 3-0 win over Williamsburg, followed by a final regular season win over Ripley at 11-0. The shutouts have continued in the tournament with wins over Chesapeake (11-0), Alexander (5-0), and most recently a 2-0 win over North Adams in the district championship game.

As for the Lady Mustangs’ defense, the backfield of LCHS consists of Lainie Lunsford, Olivia Van Fleet, Addie Downing and Samantha Merry, who have been the main four defensive players this season for LCHS, only allowing a handful of shots at goal in the district round. Plus, add the play of keeper Caitlyn Collins, and they all are a big reason the Lady Mustangs are back in the regional round.

Senior Jade Massey has been a standout player for not only LCHS, or the SHAC, but she was also selected as the Division III SE District Player of the Year for the 2023 season as she has 40 goals and nine assists thus far in ’23.

There are others who have been big parts of the Lady Mustangs’ success this season, including Allie Waits who has four goals and seven assists. Don’t forget she came up big last season in the tournament when games — and the LCHS season — were on the line, as LCHS won a regional championship last season and played in the Division III state semifinals.

Also for LCHS in ’23, Autumn Wilkin has six goals and two assists, and Slack currently has nine goals and nine assists, as she scored both goals in the district final game.

Now for the Lady Lions.

FAIRFIELD (Head Coach: Jacob Alexander)

Overall Record: 15-3-1
SHAC Record: 5-1-0 (2nd Place)
Postseason Record: 3-0
Goals Leader: Faith Donley, 34 (senior)
Assists Leaders: Faith Donley, 15 (senior)
Saves Leader: Claire Newkirk, 83 (junior)

The current group of Fairfield Lady Lions are having one of — if not their best — seasons in program history, as they are district champions for the first time, plus they won a sectional championship and were second place in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference with only one loss in conference play.

FHS also has 15 wins this season, scoring a total of 101 goals this season in the 19 games played in ’23, and they’ve allowed less than a goal a game with 14 goals allowed this year.

Fairfield is also big on defense this postseason, allowing only one goal in three games played, that coming against Minford in the district championship game, as FHS won the contest 2-1 in overtime. Kennedy Zink scored both of the goals in that district final victory. Zink this season is second in goals scored and assists this season for Fairfield, as the senior has 32 goals and nine assists.

This season Fairfield has shut out their opponent 12 times, and a big part of that is the play of their defense, and just like their counterpart they’ll be facing, this postseason has seen their defense improve.

First, there is junior keeper Claire Newark who has 83 saves this season, and the rest of the defense who has stood out recently are: Avery Teeters, Emmi Vance, Landry Teeters, Isabelle Hale and Hannah Hamilton.

On offense, most of the goal scoring comes from the senior duo of Faith Donley and Zink, who have combined for 66 of the 101 total goals scored by Fairfield in ’23, with Donley leading with 34 — she also has the team lead in assists with 15 — and Zink with the aforementioned 32 goals.

FHS also has three tournament wins on their path to playing in the regional semifinals for the first time in program history, as they’ve defeated Piketon (10-0), Eastern (1-0) and Minford (2-1, OT).

The Lady Lions and Lady Mustangs are set to start their regional final game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at Zane Trace High School.