Fairfield Lady Lions return to district finals; shut out Eastern 

WAVERLY — After a scoreless half against Southern Hills Athletic Conference opponent Eastern, Monday night in the Division V SE District Semifinals, the second half was a different story for the Fairfield Lady Lions. 

After a halftime discussion with head coach Jacob Alexander during the Oct. 20 game, Fairfield’s offense rallied for three goals in the final 40 minutes of regulation, defeating their conference counterpart, 3-0 en route to returning to the district finals once again. 

During their regular-season meeting on Aug. 28, Fairfield defeated Eastern 2-0 at EHS, as Fairfield has shut out Eastern in their past three matches against each other the past two seasons by a 7-0 total.  

“We were playing a little timid to start the game, and as we built in through the game it kind of got to us a little more. We started going to the ball a little more and playing our game,” Alexander said. “We were a little reserved to start the game. These Monday games, you never know what is going to happen after a weekend. It was a good win, and Eastern is a great program. Dan (Silvis) has a good team over there.”

Last season, Fairfield reached the district finals where they lost to the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs, and in 2023 Fairfield won a district championship in a win against Minford by a 2-1 score in OT. 

This year in their return to what will be a third consecutive district final match, the Lady Lions (12-6-0) will for a third consecutive season face the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs (7-8-2) in the postseason, as LCHS won their district semifinal match by a 2-1 score in double overtime against the Valley Lady Indians.

In the match against No. 4 seeded Eastern (8-10-0), both Fairfield and the Lady Warriors’ defenses in the first half were strong as the score was tied at 0-0 in the first 40-minute half at Raidiger Field in downtown Waverly. One of the bigger saves by the Lady Lions was a save by Meri Jackson of Fairfield — who has 68 saves this season — with 18:29 left in the first half, keeping the Lady Warriors scoreless. 

In the second half for Fairfield  — the No. 1 seed — offense was a much different story for the team that calls Leesburg home. The Lady Lions scored their first goal of the match within 10 minutes of the start of the second half as senior Ava Hooper broke the scoreless tie with a big kick to the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead with 31:37 left in regulation.

Coach Alexander spoke about their halftime break and what the coaches said to the team during the 10-minute intermission. 

“We just talked about getting back to us being the more aggressive team to the ball, and we just wanted to make sure … we talked about not having a fear of failure in this game,” Alexander said. “The quote I read says: ‘Fear of failure is where failure comes from.’

“We kind of just talked about how you've got to leave it out there. It is tournament time … then if you don’t, you are going home.” 

The goal saw excitement from the Fairfield team, and as exhilarating as that first goal of the match was against their SHAC rival in the district semifinals, there was even more excitement ahead for FHS. 

Fairfield increased their lead to a two-goal advantage when junior Vivian Henninger took the ball away from the Lady Warriors, then raced downfield past the defense of EHS and went on to kick the ball to the back of the net for a 2-0 lead with 28:52 left on the scoreboard.

The goals by Hooper and Henninger for the 2-0 lead have been a staple in the cause for celebration this season for Fairfield this season, as the duo has now combined for 36 goals this season, with 26 by Henninger and 10 from Hooper, with their goals being scored in some of the bigger moments of the ’25 season thus far. 

“That duo and just the support from the other players too, the ball finding them at the right time was great,” Alexander said. “The corner kick for Ava to run the play right, get to it, then just get a touch and get a nice shot. Vivian is just a great player too, We are proud of our girls as a whole. 

“The backline and our goalie Meri Jackson pitching a shutout is big. We like that because the worst that can happen is a tie, so we always like a good shutout.”

Henninger put the Lady Lions advantage to a three-goal lead with 1:38 left in the match, scoring her second goal for the eventual 3-0 win. 

The Division V District Final match will be on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. in downtown Waverly at Raidiger Field with a start of 7 p.m. 

No. 1 seeded Fairfield and No. 2 seeded Lynchburg-Clay have not only met in ’23 and ’24 during the regional semifinals (’23) and district finals (’24), the two current versions of the team played during the regular season in ’25 where Fairfield won by a 2-1 score on Oct. 8 at Fairfield High School. The Lady Lions were the team that defeated the LCHS in a regular-season SHAC game for the first time in 15 seasons — ending Lynchburg-Clay’s 102-game streak without a conference loss. 

“We have to stay true to ourselves, stay true to each other," Alexander said of advancing to the district finals. “It is team over me, and that’s what we have been preaching here for the last couple weeks of the season is we are going to go as far as our team will take us.”