Lady Indians see season end in Elite 8

BELLBROOK — It was another successful season for the Hillsboro Lady Indians that came to a close on Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't without making their opponent a little nervous in the first half.

Hillsboro scored the first two goals of their 2014 Division II Regional Final match against the Granville Blue Aces, but they then allowed five consecutive goals, before falling by a 5-3 final score to end their season.

This was the second consecutive year the Lady Indians finished in the Elite 8 and third straight season of playing in the regional round of the postseason.

Playing in cold and windy weather, the Lady Indians did all they could to fend off the state runners-up from last season, including scoring the first two goals of the match.

"It is a tough loss, and to get back to this game was a real accomplishment for the girls," HHS head coach Jeremy Ratcliff said. "I'm proud of what they accomplished this year through a lot of doubters and negativity.

"They never bought into that, and they earned their way back into this game. They put up a fight against one of the best teams in the state. I know the pain hurts right now, but I know when the pain goes away in a couple days, they will look back at this and be proud of what they accomplished this year."

Hillsboro's first goal came off the foot of Cadence Myers, off a rebound which began from an indirect kick by Trista Rhodes with 34:58 left in the first half.

HHS (15-7-0) continued to put the pressure on Granville with a second goal, this time scoring off a throw in from Bell, who then had the ball reach her again via teammate. Bell followed by kicking the ball from around 12 yards out at an angle, in the right corner of the goal past the keeper of GHS with 30:30 left on the first-half clock.

From there, that would be all the HHS scoring until late in the second half, with Granville (13-5-4) scoring five consecutive goals, including two in the first half for a halftime score of 2-2.

The first Granville goal came from Blyth Saxinger 15 seconds following the goal by Bell for a 2-1 score. With 10:34 left in the first half, Rose Sawyers scored for the Blue Aces.

In the second half, Nikki Cox put GHS ahead for good with 32:01 left in the match. From there, Journy Link and Taylor Beitzel also scored goals with 18:33 and 3:19 left in the scoreboard at Bellbrook High School.

Hillsboro's Kaylee Achor scored the final goal of the match with 2:23 remaining.

This postseason for the Lady Indians, they defeated Westfall (10-0), Circleville (3-0), Jackson (4-1), Chillicothe (1-0) and John Glenn (2-1).

Ratcliff also spoke about his seniors. Seniors this season for HHS were: Bell, Rhodes, Achor, Ashley Purtee and Lindsay Ulicny.

"They are a great senior class," Ratcliff said. "They were three-time district champions and regional finalists twice … I've known a lot of these kids since they were 6 or 7 years old, so it is going to be hard to say goodbye to them.

"The seniors grew into outstanding leaders for us this year. They led us on and off the field. It is always tough to lose a senior class."