Lady Mustangs defeat Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
In a non-conference match that had the feel and style of play like it was tournament action, the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs defeated their Highland County rival Hillsboro on the road with a very strong first half for a 4-1 victory.
LC’s win over the Lady Indians gives them two wins in the past three seasons against their Highland County counterparts. Last season, the two teams played to a scoreless tie. The three-goal win by LC was the largest margin of victory between these two teams since HHS defeated LC, 4-1 in 2008.
“Hillsboro played tough,” LC head coach Dennis West said. “Hillsboro played really well. I was really impressed by (Natalie Sullivan). She was just all over the place. I remember her number, and it’ll probably haunt me all night. She really played well.
“We got good play from people that we normally don’t have to rely on so much for scoring, but (Monday) some of our normal scorers were struggling a little bit and the other girls picked it up. I’m glad to get out of here with a win against a really good club. Hillsboro’s going to surprise people. They know how to play, and Coach (Jeremy) Ratcliff can do a good job with them. They’ll be good.”
[[In-content Ad]]
The Monday night by the Lady Mustangs (9-0-0) began with some early scoring at the 35:33 mark of the first half when Angela McLaughlin put the ball in the back of the net with an assist from Peyton Scott for the 1-0 advantage.
LC continued to pressure the Lady Indians, but keeper Riley Moberly came up big with a save for HHS. Moberly finished the match with 10 saves, six in the first half.
Less than two minutes later, Hillsboro’s Callan Myers had a goal, assisted by Madison Marsh, from about 25 yards out, tying the score at 1-1.
Though that goal was the lone goal scored by the Lady Indians, the match continued to be played at a strong pace as LC nearly regained the lead around the 27-minute mark on a header that was just off the mark.
Lynchburg-Clay took the lead for good with 21:54 left in the first half when Lexi Waits scored a goal off a rebound from a corner kick initially kicked by Shelby Chisman for the 2-1 advantage.
Less than two minutes later, at the 20:08 mark of the same half, Scott put the Lady Mustangs ahead by two goals with a goal close to the net off a rebound for a 3-1 advantage, as that score stood until halftime.
With 13:26 left in the second half, LC made it the final 4-1 lead when Serena Smith scored a goal on a penalty kick, sending the ball to the left corner of the net.
In all, the LC defense held the Lady Indians to three shots on goal.
“They (LC) executed their game plan,” HHS head coach Jeremy Ratcliff said. “It was not really a surprise what they were going to do, it was just a matter of if we could stop them. They did a nice job of executing their game plan, which is carry the ball wide, look for free runners in the center and to win corners. I thought they did that enough times to win the game, so I give them a lot of credit.
“I don’t think we gave up. I thought we kept fighting hard against a really good team. They’re a really good soccer team, very well-coached and have a lot of good athletes. It would’ve been easy for my kids to come out here and get down 3-1 and kind of mail it in in the second half. I thought we had better opportunities offensively in the second half, and I thought we tried to work on executing our game plan more, offensively. I don’t think we did a very good job in that first half, and it showed in just the flow of the match.”
HHS (6-3-1) will play again on Tuesday when they travel to face the Washington Blue Lions at Gardner Park in Washington C.H. for a South Central Ohio League match. The Lady Mustangs play again on Friday night at home against the Fairfield Lady Lions in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play.
LC’s win over the Lady Indians gives them two wins in the past three seasons against their Highland County counterparts. Last season, the two teams played to a scoreless tie. The three-goal win by LC was the largest margin of victory between these two teams since HHS defeated LC, 4-1 in 2008.
“Hillsboro played tough,” LC head coach Dennis West said. “Hillsboro played really well. I was really impressed by (Natalie Sullivan). She was just all over the place. I remember her number, and it’ll probably haunt me all night. She really played well.
“We got good play from people that we normally don’t have to rely on so much for scoring, but (Monday) some of our normal scorers were struggling a little bit and the other girls picked it up. I’m glad to get out of here with a win against a really good club. Hillsboro’s going to surprise people. They know how to play, and Coach (Jeremy) Ratcliff can do a good job with them. They’ll be good.”
[[In-content Ad]]
The Monday night by the Lady Mustangs (9-0-0) began with some early scoring at the 35:33 mark of the first half when Angela McLaughlin put the ball in the back of the net with an assist from Peyton Scott for the 1-0 advantage.
LC continued to pressure the Lady Indians, but keeper Riley Moberly came up big with a save for HHS. Moberly finished the match with 10 saves, six in the first half.
Less than two minutes later, Hillsboro’s Callan Myers had a goal, assisted by Madison Marsh, from about 25 yards out, tying the score at 1-1.
Though that goal was the lone goal scored by the Lady Indians, the match continued to be played at a strong pace as LC nearly regained the lead around the 27-minute mark on a header that was just off the mark.
Lynchburg-Clay took the lead for good with 21:54 left in the first half when Lexi Waits scored a goal off a rebound from a corner kick initially kicked by Shelby Chisman for the 2-1 advantage.
Less than two minutes later, at the 20:08 mark of the same half, Scott put the Lady Mustangs ahead by two goals with a goal close to the net off a rebound for a 3-1 advantage, as that score stood until halftime.
With 13:26 left in the second half, LC made it the final 4-1 lead when Serena Smith scored a goal on a penalty kick, sending the ball to the left corner of the net.
In all, the LC defense held the Lady Indians to three shots on goal.
“They (LC) executed their game plan,” HHS head coach Jeremy Ratcliff said. “It was not really a surprise what they were going to do, it was just a matter of if we could stop them. They did a nice job of executing their game plan, which is carry the ball wide, look for free runners in the center and to win corners. I thought they did that enough times to win the game, so I give them a lot of credit.
“I don’t think we gave up. I thought we kept fighting hard against a really good team. They’re a really good soccer team, very well-coached and have a lot of good athletes. It would’ve been easy for my kids to come out here and get down 3-1 and kind of mail it in in the second half. I thought we had better opportunities offensively in the second half, and I thought we tried to work on executing our game plan more, offensively. I don’t think we did a very good job in that first half, and it showed in just the flow of the match.”
HHS (6-3-1) will play again on Tuesday when they travel to face the Washington Blue Lions at Gardner Park in Washington C.H. for a South Central Ohio League match. The Lady Mustangs play again on Friday night at home against the Fairfield Lady Lions in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play.