Lady Indians unlucky in OT; season ended
Lead Summary

By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The ball sailed every direction possible for the Hillsboro Lady Indians Thursday night … except into the back of the goal.
The unluckiness of the Lady Indians was a blessing for the Circleville Lady Tigers as they relied heavily on defense and took advantage of a rare scoring opportunity, kicking in the game-winning goal with under four minutes remaining, in sudden death overtime, for a 1-0 Division II SE District Sectional Final win at Richards Memorial Field.
This was the first match for HHS (a No. 2 seed) in seven days.
"We fought hard, had multiple chances and outshot them," Hillsboro coach Leslie Molen said. "I think the layoff hurt us more than it helped us. Unfortunately, we took this loss too late into the season.
"I think it may have woke us up if we would have possibly taken one (a loss) earlier in the season. We were kind of a bit too lax at times during this past week."
This was the second shutout by Circleville in the '11 postseason as they shut out Athens 3-0 on Monday in a sectional semifinal match.
The lone goal on Thursday was scored on a one-on-one situation when Circleville senior Kendra Day broke away and kicked the ball to the right corner of the net, sending the South Central Ohio League co-champion Lady Indians out of the postseason, while handing them their first and only loss of the season.
"We were definitely unlucky today," Molen said. "To say the least … unlucky."
Hillsboro finishes the season at 14-1-2 overall. To win a share of the SCOL title, the Lady Indians went 10-0-2 in league matches, tying co-champion Clinton-Massie both times.
"It was a great season. We accomplished some good stuff. This was a little disappointing to go out in the sectional round," Molen said.
Circleville made everything of that shot as they didn't have many opportunities to take them with Hillsboro dominating possession of the ball for nearly the entire match.
Besides the goal by the Lady Tigers, the play at goal by freshman Darbi Brewer was outstanding. Hillsboro took over 30 shots against the Lady Tiger defense, and if it didn't sail away from the goal, their defense either kicked the ball away, caught the ball or dove on it for a save.
Though HHS didn't score a single goal, the only time that occurred all season, it wasn't because they didn't have the opportunities to do so.
In overtime, the Lady Indians were unable to convert corner kicks to score a point. With 12:30 left in the 15:00 overtime period, corner kicks sailed a tad bit too far past the goal. HHS pressured the Lady Tigers again with 7:35 remaining, and again with 7:22 on the clock as Brewer dove to the left post, knocking the ball away.
After the defense of Circleville was tested to their limits, the offense of the Lady Tigers gained their opportunity to pressure the HHS defense … and that is exactly what happened. CHS took a shot at goal with 5:30 left in the match, but this time the HHS defense held strong. Two minutes later, Circleville ended the sectional final match.
In regulation, especially in the first half, the Lady Indians, though fighting the wind and spattering of rain, were in fact unlucky with the ball bouncing off the top cross bar eight minutes into the match.
It was a sign of things to come for the Lady Indians.
Though each team battled the muddy and wet field conditions as it rained the past two days in the area, HHS just had troubles sending the ball into the back of the net. They had missed goals at 26:00, 17:16, 11:40, 11:14 and pressured Circleville more in the final 10 minutes of the opening half.
One of the bigger and timely saves by Circleville's Brewer came with 7:09 left in the first half as she was caught out of position at the top of the box with HHS gaining possession. The Lady Indians kicked the ball towards the open goal, but as they would do all match, the Lady Tiger defense was there to slow down the goal, just in time for Brewer to race back and dive on the ball.
As if that wasn't enough pressure in the first half, Hillsboro's Lauren Grimes and Madison Colliver came extremely close to scoring a goal with 2:00 left in the first half, but again the Circleville defense held strong.
In the second half, it was more of the same with HHS controlling possession and the Circleville defense continuing to take on the pressure.
The closest moment of a HHS goal was on a header by Grimes that bounced off the left post of the goal with 34:11 remaining.
The lone time the clock stopped in the match was at the 20:47 mark of the final 40 minutes, but again, the Lady Indians had more chances to score a goal, but none of them reached the destination sought. With 4:48 remaining in regulation, the Lady Indians were inches away from a goal, but it sailed too much to the right side, missing the net.
Molen commented on her future as HHS varsity coach. In the past eight seasons, her teams have accumulated over 100 wins and three league championships.
"I don't know if this is it or not, but I'm thinking about going into a different direction," she said.
Seniors playing their final match for HHS were: Sara Sexton, Lauren Grimes, Haley Wisman, Leah Pence, Kristy Hopkins, Gabby Sugden, Hailey McCoppin, Jordan Davis and Kayla Deatley.
Circleville, who have seven wins and two ties, will now play Unioto (a No. 3 seed) on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in a district semifinal match at Jackson High School. Unioto defeated Logan Elm 5-1 on Thursday.
BOX SCORE
CHS 0 0 1 — 1
HHS 0 0 0 — 0[[In-content Ad]]
The unluckiness of the Lady Indians was a blessing for the Circleville Lady Tigers as they relied heavily on defense and took advantage of a rare scoring opportunity, kicking in the game-winning goal with under four minutes remaining, in sudden death overtime, for a 1-0 Division II SE District Sectional Final win at Richards Memorial Field.
This was the first match for HHS (a No. 2 seed) in seven days.
"We fought hard, had multiple chances and outshot them," Hillsboro coach Leslie Molen said. "I think the layoff hurt us more than it helped us. Unfortunately, we took this loss too late into the season.
"I think it may have woke us up if we would have possibly taken one (a loss) earlier in the season. We were kind of a bit too lax at times during this past week."
This was the second shutout by Circleville in the '11 postseason as they shut out Athens 3-0 on Monday in a sectional semifinal match.
The lone goal on Thursday was scored on a one-on-one situation when Circleville senior Kendra Day broke away and kicked the ball to the right corner of the net, sending the South Central Ohio League co-champion Lady Indians out of the postseason, while handing them their first and only loss of the season.
"We were definitely unlucky today," Molen said. "To say the least … unlucky."
Hillsboro finishes the season at 14-1-2 overall. To win a share of the SCOL title, the Lady Indians went 10-0-2 in league matches, tying co-champion Clinton-Massie both times.
"It was a great season. We accomplished some good stuff. This was a little disappointing to go out in the sectional round," Molen said.
Circleville made everything of that shot as they didn't have many opportunities to take them with Hillsboro dominating possession of the ball for nearly the entire match.
Besides the goal by the Lady Tigers, the play at goal by freshman Darbi Brewer was outstanding. Hillsboro took over 30 shots against the Lady Tiger defense, and if it didn't sail away from the goal, their defense either kicked the ball away, caught the ball or dove on it for a save.
Though HHS didn't score a single goal, the only time that occurred all season, it wasn't because they didn't have the opportunities to do so.
In overtime, the Lady Indians were unable to convert corner kicks to score a point. With 12:30 left in the 15:00 overtime period, corner kicks sailed a tad bit too far past the goal. HHS pressured the Lady Tigers again with 7:35 remaining, and again with 7:22 on the clock as Brewer dove to the left post, knocking the ball away.
After the defense of Circleville was tested to their limits, the offense of the Lady Tigers gained their opportunity to pressure the HHS defense … and that is exactly what happened. CHS took a shot at goal with 5:30 left in the match, but this time the HHS defense held strong. Two minutes later, Circleville ended the sectional final match.
In regulation, especially in the first half, the Lady Indians, though fighting the wind and spattering of rain, were in fact unlucky with the ball bouncing off the top cross bar eight minutes into the match.
It was a sign of things to come for the Lady Indians.
Though each team battled the muddy and wet field conditions as it rained the past two days in the area, HHS just had troubles sending the ball into the back of the net. They had missed goals at 26:00, 17:16, 11:40, 11:14 and pressured Circleville more in the final 10 minutes of the opening half.
One of the bigger and timely saves by Circleville's Brewer came with 7:09 left in the first half as she was caught out of position at the top of the box with HHS gaining possession. The Lady Indians kicked the ball towards the open goal, but as they would do all match, the Lady Tiger defense was there to slow down the goal, just in time for Brewer to race back and dive on the ball.
As if that wasn't enough pressure in the first half, Hillsboro's Lauren Grimes and Madison Colliver came extremely close to scoring a goal with 2:00 left in the first half, but again the Circleville defense held strong.
In the second half, it was more of the same with HHS controlling possession and the Circleville defense continuing to take on the pressure.
The closest moment of a HHS goal was on a header by Grimes that bounced off the left post of the goal with 34:11 remaining.
The lone time the clock stopped in the match was at the 20:47 mark of the final 40 minutes, but again, the Lady Indians had more chances to score a goal, but none of them reached the destination sought. With 4:48 remaining in regulation, the Lady Indians were inches away from a goal, but it sailed too much to the right side, missing the net.
Molen commented on her future as HHS varsity coach. In the past eight seasons, her teams have accumulated over 100 wins and three league championships.
"I don't know if this is it or not, but I'm thinking about going into a different direction," she said.
Seniors playing their final match for HHS were: Sara Sexton, Lauren Grimes, Haley Wisman, Leah Pence, Kristy Hopkins, Gabby Sugden, Hailey McCoppin, Jordan Davis and Kayla Deatley.
Circleville, who have seven wins and two ties, will now play Unioto (a No. 3 seed) on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in a district semifinal match at Jackson High School. Unioto defeated Logan Elm 5-1 on Thursday.
BOX SCORE
CHS 0 0 1 — 1
HHS 0 0 0 — 0[[In-content Ad]]