District Champions: 3-peat for Lady Indians
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
JACKSON — The Hillsboro Lady Indians have continued to play their best soccer of the season, and for that, they've been able to reap the rewards by hoisting their third consecutive Division II SE District championship trophy.
The Lady Indians defeated South Central Ohio League foe Chillicothe by a 1-0 score at Alumni Stadium, in a game that saw the lone goal scored by senior Kaylee Achor, but also have big-time timely defense from various teammates.
Hillsboro's goal from Achor, her fifth of the postseason, came with 6:28 left in the first half, as she was one-on-one with the keeper of the Lady Cavaliers, blasting the ball past the keeper, leading into the air in celebration with teammates.
"I didn't think at the time it would be the only goal of the match," HHS head coach Jeremy Ratcliff said. "I'm certainly happy we made that goal stay up, and Kaylee did a good job.
"Maddie (Marsh) and Trista (Rhodes) were involved in assisting her in that breakout run, and we made it stand up. Kaylee did a nice job finishing."
This wasn't the first time Achor has scored what was a game-winning goal for the Lady Indians in a district final at Jackson High School. As a sophomore, Achor scored the game-winning goal against Warren in 2012 in OT for the first district title in what has become a three-peat.
HHS (14-6-0) played a complete game and "played as 11," something HHS head coach Jeremy Ratcliff said they would have to do earlier this week in an interview with The Highland County Press.
"I don't know what I've done to be blessed with such a great group of kids," Ratcliff said. "Whatever I'm doing, I hope I keep doing it, because these are some great kids. They are obviously great soccer players, but are even better people.
"To see them peak at the right time of the year like this is fun to watch. Wrestling coach James Jones taught me about managing a season, and when you should peak … when to put pressure on a team, and it seems like the girls are responding at the right time, and we are led by a great senior class that isn't done playing soccer."
In the first half, the Lady Indians controlled the possession of the ball, but in the second half, they relied heavily on their defense, especially junior keeper Carly Meyer, who made a game-saving diving stop at the goal with 22:03 left in the second half.
CHS nearly scored again, but a bit of luck helped the Lady Indians with the ball bouncing off the top of the cross bar with 17:06, and nearly 20 seconds later, Meyer made a one-handed leaping stop in the middle of the goal to keep the HHS lead at 1-0. Meyer finished with 12 saves.
"Carly made some outstanding saves, and against a team like Chillicothe, you are going to have to have that," Ratcliff said. "Chillicothe will get players loose and pressure you, and they did that, so you have to count on your keeper to make some saves and she did.
"We got a couple fortunate bounces our way, but other than that, Carly did a great job organizing our defense and made saves when we needed them."
[[In-content Ad]]
The Lady Cavaliers continued to pressure the HHS defense, but HHS continued to make big stop, including Kaylynn Bell stopping a potential goal attempt by the Lady Cavaliers off a corner kick.
Also making timely plays on defense for the Lady Indians were Natalie Sullivan with 2:59 left and Madison Marsh with 2:45 on the clock, stopping two more pressure situations by the Lady Cavaliers.
HHS ended the match by knocking the ball out of their territory one final time for the win.
The shutout by the Lady Indians has them still allowing just one goal in four postseason matches, as they've outscored their opponents, 18-1. In their past three district final matches (2012-14), HHS has outscored those opponents, 5-2, including shutouts the past two seasons in the district finals. In '13, HHS defeated Fairfield-Union, 1-0.
In this '14 shutout, HHS has seven shots at goal. The loss ends the CHS season at 11-6-3 overall. In their matches earlier this season, HHS defeated the Lady Cavs, 3-1, and CHS won their home meeting vs. HHS by a 2-1 score.
"We've had some disappointments and let downs this season, and I've made plenty of mistakes as a rookie head coach, but they haven't held that against me and have kept playing hard for me," Ratcliff said.
"They keep playing hard for each other, and it has just been fun to be a part of this right now, and we'll enjoy this (Saturday) and be back at it on Monday."
With the win, HHS is now in the Sweet 16 as they will play in the regional semifinals on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at Zanesville High School with a 7 p.m. start. They will play John Glenn, who defeated Minerva by a 7-0 score, Saturday.
Hillsboro keeper Carly Meyer makes a save vs. CHS.
The Lady Indians defeated South Central Ohio League foe Chillicothe by a 1-0 score at Alumni Stadium, in a game that saw the lone goal scored by senior Kaylee Achor, but also have big-time timely defense from various teammates.
Hillsboro's goal from Achor, her fifth of the postseason, came with 6:28 left in the first half, as she was one-on-one with the keeper of the Lady Cavaliers, blasting the ball past the keeper, leading into the air in celebration with teammates.
"I didn't think at the time it would be the only goal of the match," HHS head coach Jeremy Ratcliff said. "I'm certainly happy we made that goal stay up, and Kaylee did a good job.
"Maddie (Marsh) and Trista (Rhodes) were involved in assisting her in that breakout run, and we made it stand up. Kaylee did a nice job finishing."
This wasn't the first time Achor has scored what was a game-winning goal for the Lady Indians in a district final at Jackson High School. As a sophomore, Achor scored the game-winning goal against Warren in 2012 in OT for the first district title in what has become a three-peat.
HHS (14-6-0) played a complete game and "played as 11," something HHS head coach Jeremy Ratcliff said they would have to do earlier this week in an interview with The Highland County Press.
"I don't know what I've done to be blessed with such a great group of kids," Ratcliff said. "Whatever I'm doing, I hope I keep doing it, because these are some great kids. They are obviously great soccer players, but are even better people.
"To see them peak at the right time of the year like this is fun to watch. Wrestling coach James Jones taught me about managing a season, and when you should peak … when to put pressure on a team, and it seems like the girls are responding at the right time, and we are led by a great senior class that isn't done playing soccer."
In the first half, the Lady Indians controlled the possession of the ball, but in the second half, they relied heavily on their defense, especially junior keeper Carly Meyer, who made a game-saving diving stop at the goal with 22:03 left in the second half.
CHS nearly scored again, but a bit of luck helped the Lady Indians with the ball bouncing off the top of the cross bar with 17:06, and nearly 20 seconds later, Meyer made a one-handed leaping stop in the middle of the goal to keep the HHS lead at 1-0. Meyer finished with 12 saves.
"Carly made some outstanding saves, and against a team like Chillicothe, you are going to have to have that," Ratcliff said. "Chillicothe will get players loose and pressure you, and they did that, so you have to count on your keeper to make some saves and she did.
"We got a couple fortunate bounces our way, but other than that, Carly did a great job organizing our defense and made saves when we needed them."
[[In-content Ad]]
The Lady Cavaliers continued to pressure the HHS defense, but HHS continued to make big stop, including Kaylynn Bell stopping a potential goal attempt by the Lady Cavaliers off a corner kick.
Also making timely plays on defense for the Lady Indians were Natalie Sullivan with 2:59 left and Madison Marsh with 2:45 on the clock, stopping two more pressure situations by the Lady Cavaliers.
HHS ended the match by knocking the ball out of their territory one final time for the win.
The shutout by the Lady Indians has them still allowing just one goal in four postseason matches, as they've outscored their opponents, 18-1. In their past three district final matches (2012-14), HHS has outscored those opponents, 5-2, including shutouts the past two seasons in the district finals. In '13, HHS defeated Fairfield-Union, 1-0.
In this '14 shutout, HHS has seven shots at goal. The loss ends the CHS season at 11-6-3 overall. In their matches earlier this season, HHS defeated the Lady Cavs, 3-1, and CHS won their home meeting vs. HHS by a 2-1 score.
"We've had some disappointments and let downs this season, and I've made plenty of mistakes as a rookie head coach, but they haven't held that against me and have kept playing hard for me," Ratcliff said.
"They keep playing hard for each other, and it has just been fun to be a part of this right now, and we'll enjoy this (Saturday) and be back at it on Monday."
With the win, HHS is now in the Sweet 16 as they will play in the regional semifinals on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at Zanesville High School with a 7 p.m. start. They will play John Glenn, who defeated Minerva by a 7-0 score, Saturday.
Hillsboro keeper Carly Meyer makes a save vs. CHS.