Lady Indians' season ended in final minutes
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
UPPER ARLINGTON — For 78 minutes, the Hillsboro Lady Indians went punch-for-punch and toe-to-toe with the reigning Division II State champion Columbus St. Francis DeSales Lady Stallions.
But with 1:14 remaining in regulation, the hopes of a regional final appearance disappeared for HHS as they fell 1-0 to DeSales Thursday in their Division II Regional Semifinal match at Upper Arlington High School.
Following the match, HHS head coach Leslie Molen told her team in their final huddle of the season that she didn't want them to be happy with defeat, but she also wanted them to realize they took the defending state champions to the 78th minute and to make it a point to win the game next year.
"We started the game a little nervous or anxious," she said. "We weren't ourselves … but I'm proud of the girls as they played hard and showed a tremendous amount of heart."
The goal, which was scored by DeSales senior Alexandra Shivley, was blasted from 25 yards away, at an angle from the right side of the field, twisting to the left side of the goal for the eventual win over the Lady Indians, who were the home team on the scoreboard.
HHS ends the season at 17-2-1 overall with their other loss coming in the regular season vs. Clinton-Massie. Their tie was also against CM.
"This season, I couldn't have worked with a better group of kids," Molen said. "They came to all the summer workouts, the conditioning, the weight room …. everything and worked hard. Again, I'm just proud of the girls."
For Hillsboro on the 50-degree Thursday evening, the player who stood out the most for the entire match was junior Rachel Sexton at goal as she kept the Lady Indians in the match throughout the game as she pitched a shutout at goal for almost the entire regulation.
The saves by Sexton weren't just normal run of the mill-type stops, as DeSales pressured the junior keeper for over half the match as she made save after save after save in front of the HHS goal.
"If not for the play of Rachel, we wouldn't have been in the game as long as we were," Molen said. "She (Sexton) played the game of her life."
In the opening half, the Lady Indians had trouble gaining shots at goal on the offensive side as DeSales controlled the tempo of the match, but the Lady Stallions had problems gaining the upper hand with their shots either going too far or being stopped on a dime by Sexton, who unofficially totaled over 15 saves in the match.
Some of the saves by Sexton in the first half included keeping the score tied at 0-0 with 13:51 on the clock when DeSales rocketed the ball one-on-one in the middle of the goal to Sexton and another similar shot and stop with 2:16 left in the first half.
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The HHS defense also made big stops, kicking the ball away from the goal with 7:30 on the clock.
In the second half, the Lady Stallion offense pressured the HHS defense even more, and again, the Lady Indians offensively just couldn't get clear, open shots needed to score a goal.
HHS had one opportunity to score on a corner kick, but the DeSales defense was too strong.
As the home team on the scoreboard, HHS continued to churn out high-quality defense as Trista Rhodes kept the score tied as she kicked the ball away from the goal as HHS switched the style of their lineup on the field with substitutions and concentrating more on their defense, which proved to be useful with the pressure brought on by DeSales.
Again, the HHS defense came up with the timely stop with Taylor Davis kicking the ball away from dangerous territory with 29:58 on the clock.
Before the only goal was scored, the biggest scare of the match for HHS came with 28:00 left in regulation when DeSales' Erin Kuisti kicked the ball off the post, then attempted a header which sailed over the top of the goal.
HHS started gaining momentum offensively as Gretta Rossman and Madison Colliver pressured DeSales, with Colliver taking a shot at goal around the 23:00 mark of the second half, but again, HHS was unable to score.
On the other side of the field, Sexton continued the high-quality play at goal with more stops as she caught everything the Lady Stallions had to offer with saves at 23:45, 20:43, 15:05 and 14:46. Then, again, she fended off DeSales with three more saves in a span of just over a minute with 5:20 left in regulation.
With the score still tied, Kaylynn Bell made an aggressive stop for HHS, as did Davis with 2:57 on the clock.
HHS says goodbye to three seniors in Taylor Stanforth, Taylor Moberly and Zara Jensen Morgan.
"They are great kids and will be really missed by me and this program," Molen said. "They will be hard to replace."
DeSales (13-7-1) will play in the regional final (Region 7) on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Zanesville High School as they will face Millersburg West Holmes, who defeated Dover, 1-0.
The Hillsboro Lady Indians finished second place in the South Central Ohio League this season, district champions and were one of the final 16 teams remaining in Division II.
But with 1:14 remaining in regulation, the hopes of a regional final appearance disappeared for HHS as they fell 1-0 to DeSales Thursday in their Division II Regional Semifinal match at Upper Arlington High School.
Following the match, HHS head coach Leslie Molen told her team in their final huddle of the season that she didn't want them to be happy with defeat, but she also wanted them to realize they took the defending state champions to the 78th minute and to make it a point to win the game next year.
"We started the game a little nervous or anxious," she said. "We weren't ourselves … but I'm proud of the girls as they played hard and showed a tremendous amount of heart."
The goal, which was scored by DeSales senior Alexandra Shivley, was blasted from 25 yards away, at an angle from the right side of the field, twisting to the left side of the goal for the eventual win over the Lady Indians, who were the home team on the scoreboard.
HHS ends the season at 17-2-1 overall with their other loss coming in the regular season vs. Clinton-Massie. Their tie was also against CM.
"This season, I couldn't have worked with a better group of kids," Molen said. "They came to all the summer workouts, the conditioning, the weight room …. everything and worked hard. Again, I'm just proud of the girls."
For Hillsboro on the 50-degree Thursday evening, the player who stood out the most for the entire match was junior Rachel Sexton at goal as she kept the Lady Indians in the match throughout the game as she pitched a shutout at goal for almost the entire regulation.
The saves by Sexton weren't just normal run of the mill-type stops, as DeSales pressured the junior keeper for over half the match as she made save after save after save in front of the HHS goal.
"If not for the play of Rachel, we wouldn't have been in the game as long as we were," Molen said. "She (Sexton) played the game of her life."
In the opening half, the Lady Indians had trouble gaining shots at goal on the offensive side as DeSales controlled the tempo of the match, but the Lady Stallions had problems gaining the upper hand with their shots either going too far or being stopped on a dime by Sexton, who unofficially totaled over 15 saves in the match.
Some of the saves by Sexton in the first half included keeping the score tied at 0-0 with 13:51 on the clock when DeSales rocketed the ball one-on-one in the middle of the goal to Sexton and another similar shot and stop with 2:16 left in the first half.
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The HHS defense also made big stops, kicking the ball away from the goal with 7:30 on the clock.
In the second half, the Lady Stallion offense pressured the HHS defense even more, and again, the Lady Indians offensively just couldn't get clear, open shots needed to score a goal.
HHS had one opportunity to score on a corner kick, but the DeSales defense was too strong.
As the home team on the scoreboard, HHS continued to churn out high-quality defense as Trista Rhodes kept the score tied as she kicked the ball away from the goal as HHS switched the style of their lineup on the field with substitutions and concentrating more on their defense, which proved to be useful with the pressure brought on by DeSales.
Again, the HHS defense came up with the timely stop with Taylor Davis kicking the ball away from dangerous territory with 29:58 on the clock.
Before the only goal was scored, the biggest scare of the match for HHS came with 28:00 left in regulation when DeSales' Erin Kuisti kicked the ball off the post, then attempted a header which sailed over the top of the goal.
HHS started gaining momentum offensively as Gretta Rossman and Madison Colliver pressured DeSales, with Colliver taking a shot at goal around the 23:00 mark of the second half, but again, HHS was unable to score.
On the other side of the field, Sexton continued the high-quality play at goal with more stops as she caught everything the Lady Stallions had to offer with saves at 23:45, 20:43, 15:05 and 14:46. Then, again, she fended off DeSales with three more saves in a span of just over a minute with 5:20 left in regulation.
With the score still tied, Kaylynn Bell made an aggressive stop for HHS, as did Davis with 2:57 on the clock.
HHS says goodbye to three seniors in Taylor Stanforth, Taylor Moberly and Zara Jensen Morgan.
"They are great kids and will be really missed by me and this program," Molen said. "They will be hard to replace."
DeSales (13-7-1) will play in the regional final (Region 7) on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Zanesville High School as they will face Millersburg West Holmes, who defeated Dover, 1-0.
The Hillsboro Lady Indians finished second place in the South Central Ohio League this season, district champions and were one of the final 16 teams remaining in Division II.