Lady Mustangs defeat Fairfield to return to Elite 8

KINNIKINNICK — It wasn’t easy for the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs and Fairfield Lady Lions, who battled cold and windy conditions, plus a quick sprinkle of snow on Halloween night, Tuesday, Oct. 31, in their Division III Regional Final game.

In the end — in a game played at Zane Trace High School — it took just one goal for the Lady Mustangs to advance to the regional finals, defeating Highland County counterpart and Southern Hills Athletic Conference rival, Fairfield by a 1-0 score.

Lynchburg-Clay head coach Dennis West spoke about returning to the regional finals, as they won a regional championship last season.

“It’s an endurance contest,” West said about reaching the Elite 8 (regional finals). “I told the girls after the game, a lot of teams play and play and they never get to the district tournament and they never get to the regional tournament. I said we have been doing this for a good little while and I think sometimes people take us for granted, thinking ‘well, they are back in regional and that’s where they were at last year and that is where they were at the year before,’ and I said I want to make sure you know that this is not that easy.

“I said to them, you were one of 16 teams in Division III to stay alive coming in here, and now you are one of eight teams in Division III left in the state of Ohio, and that is not something you take for granted, and that is not something you pass over and say ‘oh well, we’ve done this before and it isn't something new.’

“It is always something new, and we get there because we play good soccer,” West continued. “We get there because we work hard in practice, and we practice good soccer. It isn’t just something we just throw our uniforms out on the field and say, ‘oh well, we win.’ The girls work, they earn it and they are exceptional on keeping their poise, on working with each other, and it shows in a game like this.”

West also praised Fairfield for their overall play this season, and their play on Tuesday night, and West complimented LC keeper Caitlyn Collins as she was battling an illness this week and in the game.  

“Fairfield was tough (Tuesday),” West said. “There was always that threat they were going to get that breakaway. I do have to compliment Caitlyn (Collins) she was sick coming in, and didn’t practice (Monday). She came in to get on the bus this evening and wasn’t feeling good then, but my goodness, you couldn't have told it on that field. She was on everything.

“I couldn’t be prouder of a group of girls I’ve ever coached because they were exceptional.”

The Lady Mustangs have yet to allow a goal this postseason in four games, and in the regional semifinals their lone goal was scored by the Division III SE District Player of the Year, senior Jade Massey, as she scored the goal while being covered by multiple Fairfield defenders for the only goal of the game. The assist for the goal went to Aubrey Slack.

Massey’s goal came with 26:32 left in the first half, as she maneuvered her way through the stingy Fairfield defense to kick the goal past a diving keeper for the 1-0 lead.

“Well, there were a lot of gaps at the beginning of the game, and we were having a hard time getting the ball up front, and we knew this game was going to be hard coming into it,” LCHS senior Jade Massey said. “Fairfield wanted to win this game because they hadn’t been here before, so we were just shooting as much as we could, trying to get a ball to go in, and that’s what happened.

“I was surprised the ball went in for the goal. It does feel nice going back (to the regional finals), especially since this is the last year for some of us.”

The Lady Mustangs controlled possession for most of the game, but both defenses had a strong effort. LCHS totaled six shots at goal on Tuesday, while Fairfield had five shots at goal, all by senior Faith Donley.

Lynchburg-Clay’s shots at goal started with Reese Ruble, followed by Slack, Brya McClain and then the shot that scored a goal by Massey. The rest of the game saw the Lady Mustangs have shots from Lainie Lunsford, and Massey took the final shot for Lynchburg-Clay in the win.

Sophomore keeper Caitlyn Collins for the Lady Mustangs at goal collected three saves. At goal for Fairfield, junior Claire Newkirk totaled four saves, as both keepers had very strong efforts in the all-Highland County regional semifinal game.

“I thought the weather was a real factor, especially the wind in the first half. It really played some tricks on us and caused some chances to end pretty quickly,” FHS head coach Jacob Alexander said. “It also caused some issues with clearing the ball. I think we did a better job in the second half attacking and executing our game plan.

“I loved the heart and grit our girls played with. I thought they did an excellent job representing the school and community, especially with our first-ever trip to this level. It was great to have the community support tonight as well. The Fairfield community has been great leading up to this game, and we can't thank them enough.”

In the first half of the regional semifinals, Newkirk started things off with a save against a quick shot at the keeper, and Fairfield’s defense continued to battle the offensive pressure of the Lady Mustangs as Avery Teeters kicked the ball away from the goal with 30 minutes left in the first half.

Another stop by Fairfield’s defense came with 28:59 on the clock, but LC’s pressure was too much with Massey’s goal going to the back of the net a couple minutes later.

West spoke highly of Massey.

“You can tell when she gets an angle, and she will work for it,” West said. “Some of the shots she’s got this year are indescribable because they are just at such difficult angles, and you just don’t know how they got in there.

“The one tonight, she saw that gap and boom, she scored the goal.”

From there, Fairfield’s Emmi Vance had a defensive stop with 17:47 on the clock, and LCHS battled with a corner kick, but they were unable to take advantage of the kick.

A 30-yard kick by the Lady Mustangs toward the goal was stopped by Newkirk, but Lynchburg-Clay continued to keep the pressure on with their offense. That said, Fairfield’s defense continued to put in work with Teeters having a stop at the 9:00 mark, and FHS overcame another corner kick chance by LCHS with 8:33 left.

A few minutes after, there were some snow flurries flying in the air, Donley had a shot at the LCHS goa; with 3:00 left in the first half, but a big save by Collins later in the first half at the 2:05 mark kept LCHS in front with the one-goal lead.

LC’s Massey had another shot at the goal late in the first half, but it sailed wide right as the score stood at 1-0 when halftime arrived.

It was more of the same in the second half as the teams battled in the windy conditions, as LCHS tried their hand at adding to their lead with a throw in from the corner, but again, the Lady Lions’ defense stood strong as Newkirk picked up the ball, keeping the FHS deficit at one goal.

LCHS increased their pressure on offense, and Fairfield stood up to the pressure as they made stops with 32:30 left in regulation.

Collins had another LC save at goal with 31:38 with Collins diving to the ground to stop the strong kick by Donley.

The keepers — Newkirk and Collins — for their respective teams made more stops off high-pressure in-game situations, and Collins and the LCHS defense even fended off a free kick by Fairfield with 13:30 left in regulation.

Both teams continued to play aggressively late into the match, as both teams were battling for possession of the ball, but when the final buzzer sounded, it was LCHS holding the one-goal lead that stood for over 60 minutes of the game.

“Lynchburg-Clay is the premier program in the Southeast District,” Alexander said. “It was amazing to play a county rivalry game in the Sweet Sixteen. We knew they would be ready to play and Dennis would have them well prepared. I am so proud of how the girls came out and played. After the first time we played them and the result we had, it was great to see our resolve. We wish them the best of luck for the rest of their season.”

West also gave praise to Coach Alexander and how he has coached the program to success in his tenure thus far at Fairfield.

“Jacob is a great coach, he’s one of the great young coaches in the SHAC, in the Southeast District — you name it, he’s just a great coach. He comes up with some great plans on how to attack teams, and how to defend teams, and tonight’s game was an example of that. He’s an exceptional young coach,” West said.

Seniors for Fairfield are: Faith Donley, Kennedy Zink, Avery Teeters, Kenzie Tolle, Emmi Vance and Caitlyn Quickle.

“This group has been a special group. When I came in as the girls coach, they were the freshmen coming in. They will always hold a special place because of that,” Alexander said of his senior class. “I'm so proud of them and how much they have matured as young women and soccer players. I'm going to definitely miss them.

“I'm going to miss their personalities, leadership and work ethic. Faith, Kenzie, Caitlyn, Emmi, Avery and Kennedy all have provided so much for the program, including our first district championship this year and our winningest season in program history. I can't wait to see what they do in their lives.”

Next for No. 6 state-ranked Lynchburg-Clay is a Division III Regional Final game on Saturday, Nov. 4 with a noon start in Chillicothe against the No. 1 state-ranked Cincinnati Country Day Nighthawks at Herrnstein Field, located at 409 Stacey Road, Chillicothe 45601.

CCD defeated Grandview Heights, 4-0 on Tuesday night in their regional semifinal game at Frank Zink Field in Beavercreek. Last year, LCHS and CCD faced each other in the state semifinals, where CCD won, 4-0.

The Nighthawks enter the regional finals with a 19-2-0 overall record, while Lynchburg-Clay stands at 15-0-4 overall.

“Tonight was a great game, and we had to battle the elements,” West said of the regional semifinal game. “Having two Highland County teams in the regional semifinals was pretty cool, and last year we had two SHAC teams in regional and regional finals. That shows the power of our conference, and it is the best conference in the Southeast District as far as several of us are concerned.”

BOX SCORE

FHS      0 0 – 0
LCHS    1 0 – 1