Lynchburg-Clay’s first-half goal pushes them past Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The rain was nearly non-stop on Monday night at Hillsboro High School, and the defense of the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs was unstoppable as well with the visitors holding the host Lady Indians scoreless for 80 minutes, resulting in a 1-0 win for the Lady Mustangs.
This Highland County rivalry contest had a little bit of everything. The non-conference showdown included very physical play from both sides, with each team receiving a yellow card. The match also featured two defenses that played up to a high level, with just one goal slipping past the Hillsboro defense, and it took an awkward bounce to reach inside the net.
The match also displayed two teams battling the elements of a cold and wet night due to the rain and early fall weather, but once the final buzzer sounded, it was LCHS earning their seventh shutout win of the season and improving overall to 10-2-0. The loss drops the Lady Indians to 4-6 on the season.
“This match is always this kind of match. It is always close, it doesn’t matter what they are, and it really is two county rivals,” LC head coach Dennis West said. “It is always a great match, doesn’t matter what the weather is and it doesn’t matter what the records are.
“These girls know each other, and it makes the games more exciting, and that is always a part of it. This is just a great game all the time.”
Lynchburg-Clay’s goal came with 30:10 left in the first half when Jade Massey sent the ball off the cross bar, and it then ricocheted past the keeper and into the corner of the net for the only goal of the game scored by either squad. The goal was Massey’s seventh of the season.
“That was a weird shot and at a difficult angle,” West said.
Besides that being the lone goal of the match, that didn’t mean the battle between the two teams was finished as both keepers made a stop earlier in the match, with Philemina Toca of Lynchburg-Clay and Kenzie Dietrick of Hillsboro both playing well on defense in the contest. Toca has 37 saves this season.
Also in the first half, the Lady Indians did have a very good look at the goal at around the 27-minute mark, but the ball sailed just off of the goal. LCHS pressured the Lady Indians, but the defense of the Lady Indians was too strong and made a stop near the goal, keeping it a one-goal differential near the end of the first half.
Lynchburg-Clay put heavy pressure on the Lady Indians early in the second half, but HHS keeper Dietrick made a solid save with 31:27 on the clock. LC later kicked the ball off the goal post of the HHS goal with 25:00 left in the match.
The match continued to be very physical with less than two minutes remaining in the match, and right before that mark of the second half, the Lady Indians received a yellow card as an LCHS player was slammed to the ground.
Again, Lynchburg-Clay held possession of the ball in the second half with pressure near the goal at 18:30, and with 17:53 left, it was a header goal attempt by the Lady Mustangs that was stopped by the HHS keeper Dietrick.
Eventually, Lynchburg-Clay had a yellow card go in their direction for physical play, and in the end the score didn’t change from what it read at halftime with LC winning by the single goal.
“Our defense has just been getting better and better,” West said. “I keep talking about them, but my goodness … we switched to two kids going out in the second half, and we did the same thing the past couple games, and it has really worked out well for us. It enables us to control the midfield. We get good play out of our midfield, especially tonight, and it just works out well for us.
“We haven’t been giving teams many shots in the second half with that setup, and it is working out well for us.”
This season through 12 matches, the Lady Mustangs have outscored their opponents 45-9.
Next for Hillsboro is an FAC match on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at Washington. The Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs will play again on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at Clinton-Massie in non-conference action.
This Highland County rivalry contest had a little bit of everything. The non-conference showdown included very physical play from both sides, with each team receiving a yellow card. The match also featured two defenses that played up to a high level, with just one goal slipping past the Hillsboro defense, and it took an awkward bounce to reach inside the net.
The match also displayed two teams battling the elements of a cold and wet night due to the rain and early fall weather, but once the final buzzer sounded, it was LCHS earning their seventh shutout win of the season and improving overall to 10-2-0. The loss drops the Lady Indians to 4-6 on the season.
“This match is always this kind of match. It is always close, it doesn’t matter what they are, and it really is two county rivals,” LC head coach Dennis West said. “It is always a great match, doesn’t matter what the weather is and it doesn’t matter what the records are.
“These girls know each other, and it makes the games more exciting, and that is always a part of it. This is just a great game all the time.”
Lynchburg-Clay’s goal came with 30:10 left in the first half when Jade Massey sent the ball off the cross bar, and it then ricocheted past the keeper and into the corner of the net for the only goal of the game scored by either squad. The goal was Massey’s seventh of the season.
“That was a weird shot and at a difficult angle,” West said.
Besides that being the lone goal of the match, that didn’t mean the battle between the two teams was finished as both keepers made a stop earlier in the match, with Philemina Toca of Lynchburg-Clay and Kenzie Dietrick of Hillsboro both playing well on defense in the contest. Toca has 37 saves this season.
Also in the first half, the Lady Indians did have a very good look at the goal at around the 27-minute mark, but the ball sailed just off of the goal. LCHS pressured the Lady Indians, but the defense of the Lady Indians was too strong and made a stop near the goal, keeping it a one-goal differential near the end of the first half.
Lynchburg-Clay put heavy pressure on the Lady Indians early in the second half, but HHS keeper Dietrick made a solid save with 31:27 on the clock. LC later kicked the ball off the goal post of the HHS goal with 25:00 left in the match.
The match continued to be very physical with less than two minutes remaining in the match, and right before that mark of the second half, the Lady Indians received a yellow card as an LCHS player was slammed to the ground.
Again, Lynchburg-Clay held possession of the ball in the second half with pressure near the goal at 18:30, and with 17:53 left, it was a header goal attempt by the Lady Mustangs that was stopped by the HHS keeper Dietrick.
Eventually, Lynchburg-Clay had a yellow card go in their direction for physical play, and in the end the score didn’t change from what it read at halftime with LC winning by the single goal.
“Our defense has just been getting better and better,” West said. “I keep talking about them, but my goodness … we switched to two kids going out in the second half, and we did the same thing the past couple games, and it has really worked out well for us. It enables us to control the midfield. We get good play out of our midfield, especially tonight, and it just works out well for us.
“We haven’t been giving teams many shots in the second half with that setup, and it is working out well for us.”
This season through 12 matches, the Lady Mustangs have outscored their opponents 45-9.
Next for Hillsboro is an FAC match on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at Washington. The Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs will play again on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at Clinton-Massie in non-conference action.