Lady Indians lose sectional final
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
CHILLICOTHE — The tournament run of the Hillsboro Lady Indians was shortened compared to past seasons during this regrouping year for the program, with the end coming in the sectional finals at Chillicothe, Thursday.
Hillsboro lost to the host Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers, a team they lost to three times this season, by a 4-1 score at Herrnstein Field, with all five combined goals being scored in the second half.
The loss by the Lady Indians ends a run of playing in the regional tournament, as they were a three-time defending district champion from 2012-14. As for the season series against the Lady Cavs, HHS was outscored 8-1 this season, with matches of 3-1 (at HHS) and 1-0 (at CHS) during the regular season, plus the final match on Thursday.
Last season in the district round, Hillsboro defeated Chillicothe, 1-0.
One part about the Lady Indians in the Division II Southeast District Sectional Final that can't be overlooked was their ability to play with great effort for the entire 80 minutes, especially while battling through two injuries in the match.
"I can't fault the effort the girls played with in this game," HHS head coach Jeremy Ratcliff said. "They gave everything they had and knew the challenge coming in, because Chillicothe is a good team.
"We felt pretty good with the score being 0-0 at halftime, but our conditioning may have gotten to us a little bit in the second half. Chillicothe moved the ball really well, and they did a better job of breaking down our defense, put the ball in the back of the net and took command of the game."
The opening 40 minutes of play was a chess match of sorts for both teams from the South Central Ohio League, as the champion of the league Chillicothe and the Lady Indians battled tough and exchanged momentum with offensive pressure, only to see the defense of each team stand out the most in the half as the game was scoreless after 40 minutes of play.
For the Lady Indians, their defense in the first half saw Jalyn Yochum stop a potential goal by CHS with some timely defense with 23:10 left on the clock, as did Morgan Holland, Mallori Crum, Natalie Sullivan and keeper Carly Meyer.
Meyer finished the first half with seven saves, but the problem for HHS was they had no shots on goal in the first half.
In the second half, the scoring became more frequent for the Lady Cavaliers on their home field, beginning with a goal by Teyanna Thompson at the 35:02 mark of the first half, scoring the goal as there was a collision with her and the keeper as each went in the air for the ball near the goal. The ball was in the air off a corner kick (and assist) from Chelsea Crabtree.
[[In-content Ad]]With the Lady Indians switching keepers for part of the second half after the first goal due to the collision, Payten Davis took over the game for the Lady Cavs with three goals for a hat-trick in the final 22:14 of the match.
Davis' first goal came with 22:14 left on the second-half clock, followed by a second goal and a 3-0 lead for the Lady Cavs with 14:36 remaining in regulation.
Hillsboro broke up the scoring with Lillian VanZant kicking the ball from about 25 yards away and over the keeper for a goal at the 11:33 mark of the half, with the assist by Madi Marsh.
The Lady Indians added more pressure, but the Lady Cavs made sure they kept the match out of reach for HHS as Davis scored one final goal with 3:17 on the clock.
For the match, HHS finished with five shots on goal. Earlier this week in the sectional semifinal match, Hillsboro defeated the Washington Lady Blue Lions, 8-0.
Ratcliff spoke about the season as a whole and his seniors.
"We lost a lot of production from last year's regional team, and we told the girls this group surpassed some of our expectations in how they would perform this year without some of the players we lost from last year," Ratcliff said.
"Having said that, we are losing five great seniors in this current group, so we have to try and figure out how we are going to replace them, because we are going to miss this senior class. They did a nice job of leading the team, worked hard and got along well on the field.
"The worst part of high school sports is saying goodbye to kids I've watched come through the program, and I'm proud of the people they've become. They are fine, outstanding young ladies, and I wish them nothing but the best."
CHS will face the Jackson Ironladies in the district semifinals at Logan High School.
Hillsboro lost to the host Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers, a team they lost to three times this season, by a 4-1 score at Herrnstein Field, with all five combined goals being scored in the second half.
The loss by the Lady Indians ends a run of playing in the regional tournament, as they were a three-time defending district champion from 2012-14. As for the season series against the Lady Cavs, HHS was outscored 8-1 this season, with matches of 3-1 (at HHS) and 1-0 (at CHS) during the regular season, plus the final match on Thursday.
Last season in the district round, Hillsboro defeated Chillicothe, 1-0.
One part about the Lady Indians in the Division II Southeast District Sectional Final that can't be overlooked was their ability to play with great effort for the entire 80 minutes, especially while battling through two injuries in the match.
"I can't fault the effort the girls played with in this game," HHS head coach Jeremy Ratcliff said. "They gave everything they had and knew the challenge coming in, because Chillicothe is a good team.
"We felt pretty good with the score being 0-0 at halftime, but our conditioning may have gotten to us a little bit in the second half. Chillicothe moved the ball really well, and they did a better job of breaking down our defense, put the ball in the back of the net and took command of the game."
The opening 40 minutes of play was a chess match of sorts for both teams from the South Central Ohio League, as the champion of the league Chillicothe and the Lady Indians battled tough and exchanged momentum with offensive pressure, only to see the defense of each team stand out the most in the half as the game was scoreless after 40 minutes of play.
For the Lady Indians, their defense in the first half saw Jalyn Yochum stop a potential goal by CHS with some timely defense with 23:10 left on the clock, as did Morgan Holland, Mallori Crum, Natalie Sullivan and keeper Carly Meyer.
Meyer finished the first half with seven saves, but the problem for HHS was they had no shots on goal in the first half.
In the second half, the scoring became more frequent for the Lady Cavaliers on their home field, beginning with a goal by Teyanna Thompson at the 35:02 mark of the first half, scoring the goal as there was a collision with her and the keeper as each went in the air for the ball near the goal. The ball was in the air off a corner kick (and assist) from Chelsea Crabtree.
[[In-content Ad]]With the Lady Indians switching keepers for part of the second half after the first goal due to the collision, Payten Davis took over the game for the Lady Cavs with three goals for a hat-trick in the final 22:14 of the match.
Davis' first goal came with 22:14 left on the second-half clock, followed by a second goal and a 3-0 lead for the Lady Cavs with 14:36 remaining in regulation.
Hillsboro broke up the scoring with Lillian VanZant kicking the ball from about 25 yards away and over the keeper for a goal at the 11:33 mark of the half, with the assist by Madi Marsh.
The Lady Indians added more pressure, but the Lady Cavs made sure they kept the match out of reach for HHS as Davis scored one final goal with 3:17 on the clock.
For the match, HHS finished with five shots on goal. Earlier this week in the sectional semifinal match, Hillsboro defeated the Washington Lady Blue Lions, 8-0.
Ratcliff spoke about the season as a whole and his seniors.
"We lost a lot of production from last year's regional team, and we told the girls this group surpassed some of our expectations in how they would perform this year without some of the players we lost from last year," Ratcliff said.
"Having said that, we are losing five great seniors in this current group, so we have to try and figure out how we are going to replace them, because we are going to miss this senior class. They did a nice job of leading the team, worked hard and got along well on the field.
"The worst part of high school sports is saying goodbye to kids I've watched come through the program, and I'm proud of the people they've become. They are fine, outstanding young ladies, and I wish them nothing but the best."
CHS will face the Jackson Ironladies in the district semifinals at Logan High School.