Lady Lions start season with strong win over Clinton-Massie
Fairfield junior Vivian Henninger (14) battles against Clinton-Massie Lady Falcon senior Alyssa Shockley (22) on Friday, Aug. 15 at FHS. Henninger scored two goals and had one assist in the win. (HCP Photos/Stephen Forsha)
LEESBURG — Starting the season with a victory is always a good moment, but winning by six goals is even better for the Fairfield Lady Lions program.
The Lady Lions hosted the Clinton-Massie Lady Falcons on Friday evening (Aug. 15), and they defeated the visitors in non-conference play by a 7-1 score.
Fairfield in their season-opening win had two players score two goals apiece, as juniors Vivian Henninger and Emerson Zink each achieved the feat.
Also for Fairfield, freshman Brya Fauber scored her first career varsity goal in her varsity debut, while seniors Ava Hooper and Rilee Quickle each scored a goal for FHS.
Earning assists were Henninger and junior Whitlee Morrow.
At goal for the Lady Lions was junior Meri Jackson with four saves.
Fairfield at the half led by a 2-0 score.
“We kind of cruised through the first half with a nice 2-0 lead with a nice assist from Vivian to Ava Hooper for the first goal, and Rilee put in a nice shot for the second goal in the first half,” FHS head coach Jacob Alexander said “The second half, it was one where they (CMHS) scored a goal to make it 2-1. It woke us up a little bit. Once Emerson Zink got one of her breakaways, she set the tone and the momentum shifted at that point.”
The second half goal scored by Clinton-Massie was made by sophomore Makenna Bennington, an unassisted goal. At goal for CMHS was sophomore Kailey Wax with seven saves and senior Myla Winkle with three saves.
Fairfield improves to 1-0 overall with the victory and is scheduled to play again Tuesday, Aug. 19 against the Hillsboro Lady Indians (1-0) at FHS with a 6:45 p.m. start time for the non-conference Highland County contest.
“We’ve got to be building, and we have some competitive games in the month of August,” Alexander said. “We go from this game to Hillsboro to Miami Trace to North Adams to Fayetteville and to Eastern all before fair break.
“We’ve got to be building and continue to get better each day, and so far we keep building.”
Alexander also named his three captains for the 2025 season, and they are Ava Hooper, Rilee Quickle and Landry Teeters.
“We have a great group of girls this year, and having that where they are all cheering for each other, for the captains, shows where we are at right now,” Alexander said. “We keep our team close, good things will happen.”
