Lady Indians advance to sectional finals; defeat rival McClain
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD — With seasons on the line for the Hillsboro Lady Indians and the McClain Lady Tigers, everything was left on the soccer field on Tuesday night. In the end — following a very physical game played by both squads — it was the visiting Lady Indians who advanced to the sectional finals with their win in the Division II SE District Semifinal game, winning by a 5-3 score.
This game was physical, and compared to the two matches in the regular season, it brought out all of the emotion from those two contests and then some, with Hillsboro winning the first regular-season meeting by a 7-1 score at McClain Field and the two teams tying in the matchup at Hillsboro by a 3-3 score.
“I’m extremely happy,” Hillsboro head coach Anthony Carson said following the win. “After we showed against them a couple weeks ago at home, to say I was concerned is an understatement. The girls played well and they played for each other, and it showed. We are back to where we were in the middle of the season when we were on fire.”
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Hillsboro (5-9-3) and McClain (6-9-2) each had a player earn a hat trick in the contest with junior Lexi Sheppard scoring three goals in the win, including two goals in the first half. All three of McClain’s goals were scored by senior Kayla Anderson as she also had two first-half goals.
McClain was first to score a goal in the sectional semifinal game with a goal that was hit by both the Lady Indians and Anderson, with the goal being scored at the 26:52 mark for the early 1-0 lead. That lead lasted less than three minutes with sophomore Bryanna Bledsoe putting the ball into the back of the net for HHS, tying the score at 1-1 with 23:22 on the clock.
The Lady Tigers had the pressure on the HHS defense with a kick bouncing off the crossbar, and later the hosts had a corner kick opportunity, but neither opportunity was able to add to the McClain score with 17:25 left in the first half.
Hillsboro took advantage of the physical play with a penalty kick being awarded to the Lady Indians, and Sheppard smashed the ball to the corner of the goal for her first goal of the match with 16:45 remaining in the match.
The match continued to see the Lady Indians improve their advantage to two goals, with Sheppard again leading the Lady Indians to another goal, this time with 1:40 left on the clock for a 3-1 lead.
McClain’s Anderson came back with her second goal of the match with 47 seconds left on the clock, making the score 3-2 as that score stood when halftime arrived.
“Give Kayla Anderson credit, she had a great game, and for a senior, that is going to be special for her final game,” MHS head coach Tyler Carman said.
In front of a big hometown crowd for the Lady Tigers as they had two student sections, the second half saw a goal called off for the Lady Tigers as the official ruled a McClain player was offsides with 28:40 left on the clock.
What would have been a tied score saw Hillsboro take a two-goal lead with a third goal by Sheppard, with the junior gaining the hat trick with 24:25 remaining in regulation for a 4-2 advantage.
Following a yellow card issued to Hillsboro due to the continued physical play by both Highland County rivals, McClain attempted a comeback. Once again, it was Anderson scoring a goal with 11:55 on the clock, gaining her hat trick and scoring near the goal on a rebound off a ball initially kicked by Kerigan Pollard.
Carman spoke more about the game following the end of the match.
“This was a great game and the atmosphere was awesome,” Carman said. “You know Tiger Nation, they will travel and support their kids, and they did that today. It was a physical game, and it was close the whole time. They made a couple more plays than we did, and that was the difference of the game.
“Our game plan is to put pressure on our opponent, and give Hillsboro the credit, they had two people on Kerigan all game. She was able to slide through the defense, but she never really had any wide-open shots or good looks. They pressured her nonstop.”
With McClain trailing by a 4-3 score, they really amped up their level of play and put immense pressure on the Lady Indians, but Hillsboro’s defense didn’t let any more goals go to the back of the net, including the unit having a big stop around the 7:52 mark.
The Lady Tigers continued their pressure on the HHS defense, and again HHS stood up to the pressure with around 6:00 left in the match. The HHS defense consisted of Zinny Adams, Maggie Lerch, Gracey Dearmon, Katie Baucom and Sydney Lanning.
“Our defense continues to be disciplined, and they are on fire. I dropped one of the midfielders back to just weather the storm, because we knew McClain was going to throw everything they had at us,” Carson said. “Honestly, during that series, it was scary because the ball sat down there for a good 10 minutes.”
Then it was time for the Lady Indians to put their final stamp on the game, and that came from freshman Brooke Ulicny with 3:06 remaining in the match as they scored their final goal for the two-goal win.
“Our second-half goals were crucial because without them, the game would have been tied,” Carson said. “We went up early and they were able to counter, and then we got our composure after the yellow cards. I also put freshman Brooke Ulicny in and she just does what she does, and that is put the pedal to the metal.”
The HHS keeper, senior Christine Page, led the Lady Indians with five saves at goal.
Seniors for the Lady Tigers in their final game are: Haley Hinkle, Jorden Rose, Sarah Free, Beckley Smith, Peyton Voss, Kayla Anderson and Katie Graham.
“This was a good season, and I told the girls it didn’t end like we wanted it to, but only one team wins their final game of the year,” Carman said. “We took strides this season, and we finished with six wins to set the program record for a season and hosted our first playoff game.
“This season had a few firsts as it was the first time in the regular season we didn’t lose to Hillsboro and Jackson in both games, and it was the first time we won against Miami Trace, so these girls have a lot to hold their head up high about. Any successes we have going forward is in large part to what these seniors have given this program the past four years.
“We have seven seniors, and six of them have been in the program for at least three years,” Carman continued. “These girls have been through so much the past few years, and they have seen more downs than ups. For them to rally and be leaders on the team this year led to the successes we had this year, and I’m going to miss them.”
Next for HHS is an away match in the sectional finals on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 11 a.m. as they’ll be facing the Frontier Athletic Conference champion Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers at Herrnstein Field. CHS swept the regular-season series against HHS this season, winning by scores of 5-0 (Sept. 7) and 2-0 (Sept. 19).
This game was physical, and compared to the two matches in the regular season, it brought out all of the emotion from those two contests and then some, with Hillsboro winning the first regular-season meeting by a 7-1 score at McClain Field and the two teams tying in the matchup at Hillsboro by a 3-3 score.
“I’m extremely happy,” Hillsboro head coach Anthony Carson said following the win. “After we showed against them a couple weeks ago at home, to say I was concerned is an understatement. The girls played well and they played for each other, and it showed. We are back to where we were in the middle of the season when we were on fire.”
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Hillsboro (5-9-3) and McClain (6-9-2) each had a player earn a hat trick in the contest with junior Lexi Sheppard scoring three goals in the win, including two goals in the first half. All three of McClain’s goals were scored by senior Kayla Anderson as she also had two first-half goals.
McClain was first to score a goal in the sectional semifinal game with a goal that was hit by both the Lady Indians and Anderson, with the goal being scored at the 26:52 mark for the early 1-0 lead. That lead lasted less than three minutes with sophomore Bryanna Bledsoe putting the ball into the back of the net for HHS, tying the score at 1-1 with 23:22 on the clock.
The Lady Tigers had the pressure on the HHS defense with a kick bouncing off the crossbar, and later the hosts had a corner kick opportunity, but neither opportunity was able to add to the McClain score with 17:25 left in the first half.
Hillsboro took advantage of the physical play with a penalty kick being awarded to the Lady Indians, and Sheppard smashed the ball to the corner of the goal for her first goal of the match with 16:45 remaining in the match.
The match continued to see the Lady Indians improve their advantage to two goals, with Sheppard again leading the Lady Indians to another goal, this time with 1:40 left on the clock for a 3-1 lead.
McClain’s Anderson came back with her second goal of the match with 47 seconds left on the clock, making the score 3-2 as that score stood when halftime arrived.
“Give Kayla Anderson credit, she had a great game, and for a senior, that is going to be special for her final game,” MHS head coach Tyler Carman said.
In front of a big hometown crowd for the Lady Tigers as they had two student sections, the second half saw a goal called off for the Lady Tigers as the official ruled a McClain player was offsides with 28:40 left on the clock.
What would have been a tied score saw Hillsboro take a two-goal lead with a third goal by Sheppard, with the junior gaining the hat trick with 24:25 remaining in regulation for a 4-2 advantage.
Following a yellow card issued to Hillsboro due to the continued physical play by both Highland County rivals, McClain attempted a comeback. Once again, it was Anderson scoring a goal with 11:55 on the clock, gaining her hat trick and scoring near the goal on a rebound off a ball initially kicked by Kerigan Pollard.
Carman spoke more about the game following the end of the match.
“This was a great game and the atmosphere was awesome,” Carman said. “You know Tiger Nation, they will travel and support their kids, and they did that today. It was a physical game, and it was close the whole time. They made a couple more plays than we did, and that was the difference of the game.
“Our game plan is to put pressure on our opponent, and give Hillsboro the credit, they had two people on Kerigan all game. She was able to slide through the defense, but she never really had any wide-open shots or good looks. They pressured her nonstop.”
With McClain trailing by a 4-3 score, they really amped up their level of play and put immense pressure on the Lady Indians, but Hillsboro’s defense didn’t let any more goals go to the back of the net, including the unit having a big stop around the 7:52 mark.
The Lady Tigers continued their pressure on the HHS defense, and again HHS stood up to the pressure with around 6:00 left in the match. The HHS defense consisted of Zinny Adams, Maggie Lerch, Gracey Dearmon, Katie Baucom and Sydney Lanning.
“Our defense continues to be disciplined, and they are on fire. I dropped one of the midfielders back to just weather the storm, because we knew McClain was going to throw everything they had at us,” Carson said. “Honestly, during that series, it was scary because the ball sat down there for a good 10 minutes.”
Then it was time for the Lady Indians to put their final stamp on the game, and that came from freshman Brooke Ulicny with 3:06 remaining in the match as they scored their final goal for the two-goal win.
“Our second-half goals were crucial because without them, the game would have been tied,” Carson said. “We went up early and they were able to counter, and then we got our composure after the yellow cards. I also put freshman Brooke Ulicny in and she just does what she does, and that is put the pedal to the metal.”
The HHS keeper, senior Christine Page, led the Lady Indians with five saves at goal.
Seniors for the Lady Tigers in their final game are: Haley Hinkle, Jorden Rose, Sarah Free, Beckley Smith, Peyton Voss, Kayla Anderson and Katie Graham.
“This was a good season, and I told the girls it didn’t end like we wanted it to, but only one team wins their final game of the year,” Carman said. “We took strides this season, and we finished with six wins to set the program record for a season and hosted our first playoff game.
“This season had a few firsts as it was the first time in the regular season we didn’t lose to Hillsboro and Jackson in both games, and it was the first time we won against Miami Trace, so these girls have a lot to hold their head up high about. Any successes we have going forward is in large part to what these seniors have given this program the past four years.
“We have seven seniors, and six of them have been in the program for at least three years,” Carman continued. “These girls have been through so much the past few years, and they have seen more downs than ups. For them to rally and be leaders on the team this year led to the successes we had this year, and I’m going to miss them.”
Next for HHS is an away match in the sectional finals on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 11 a.m. as they’ll be facing the Frontier Athletic Conference champion Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers at Herrnstein Field. CHS swept the regular-season series against HHS this season, winning by scores of 5-0 (Sept. 7) and 2-0 (Sept. 19).