Lady Mustangs rally late; repeat as district champions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
THE PLAINS — For the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs, they've played defense that has held their opponents scoreless this postseason, and for the second straight season, their play has left them as Division III SE District champions.
On Saturday afternoon at Athens High School, on R. Basil Rutter Field, the defense played well the entire match, and the offense finally caught up in the final minutes, scoring two goals for a 2-0 win against the West Muskingum Tornadoes.
"I've never been in a game at this level where one team controlled the ball so much, and still couldn't get one in the net until late in the match like this," LC head coach Dennis West said. "We talked at halftime about their keeper and how good she is.
"We told them we just couldn't stand there and blast the ball for 25-to-30 yards out and expect to do anything against her. She's really active, and we talked about changing our strategy about how to approach the situation."
LC's goal that put them in the lead for good was with 6:46 left in the second half when freshman Angela McLaughlin was able to break away from the defense of the Tornadoes, for a one-on-one matchup with their keeper.
The goal by McLaughlin was assisted by senior Sydney Cromer.
"We moved Angela up front and got her in a situation where she was in a one-on-one situation with the keeper, and we'll take that anything we can get it," West said. "She's just that good at finishing at the net, especially for a freshman."
As for the second goal by LC, it was just a few minutes later with sophomore Hannah Binkley finding the back of the net with 2:37 left in the district final match, with an assist from senior teammate Sam Whitenack.
The win puts the Lady Mustangs at 17-1-1 overall. They've also outscored their postseason opponents, 12-0 in three matches.
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But besides those, and nearly 80 minutes of soccer without a single point, the match was fully competitive, including a first half of LC controlling the possession of the ball for nearly the entire first period against West Muskingum, who finishes the season at 7-12 overall.
LC had shots from all sides of the field but were just unable to make any of the goals be on target.
With both teams being scoreless after the first half, the second half was still competitive before the two LC goals with the play picking up a bit, but LC still controlled possession of the ball for most of the second half as well.
"We just talked about the fact we were in so much control of the game and kept controlling the ball, getting shot after shot," West said. "We talked about how they were getting no offensive pressure on us at all, and that we just needed to keep it up and get a little smarter on our method of attacking the goal and keep working.
"We were really fortunate and persistent that we were able to finish it."
LC will now play in the regional semifinals for the second consecutive year, as they'll be facing Bishop Rosecrans of Zanesville, who won their district final match by a 7-0 score. That match will take place at Bloom-Carroll High School on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.
LC's Hannah Binkley scored a goal in the second half.
On Saturday afternoon at Athens High School, on R. Basil Rutter Field, the defense played well the entire match, and the offense finally caught up in the final minutes, scoring two goals for a 2-0 win against the West Muskingum Tornadoes.
"I've never been in a game at this level where one team controlled the ball so much, and still couldn't get one in the net until late in the match like this," LC head coach Dennis West said. "We talked at halftime about their keeper and how good she is.
"We told them we just couldn't stand there and blast the ball for 25-to-30 yards out and expect to do anything against her. She's really active, and we talked about changing our strategy about how to approach the situation."
LC's goal that put them in the lead for good was with 6:46 left in the second half when freshman Angela McLaughlin was able to break away from the defense of the Tornadoes, for a one-on-one matchup with their keeper.
The goal by McLaughlin was assisted by senior Sydney Cromer.
"We moved Angela up front and got her in a situation where she was in a one-on-one situation with the keeper, and we'll take that anything we can get it," West said. "She's just that good at finishing at the net, especially for a freshman."
As for the second goal by LC, it was just a few minutes later with sophomore Hannah Binkley finding the back of the net with 2:37 left in the district final match, with an assist from senior teammate Sam Whitenack.
The win puts the Lady Mustangs at 17-1-1 overall. They've also outscored their postseason opponents, 12-0 in three matches.
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But besides those, and nearly 80 minutes of soccer without a single point, the match was fully competitive, including a first half of LC controlling the possession of the ball for nearly the entire first period against West Muskingum, who finishes the season at 7-12 overall.
LC had shots from all sides of the field but were just unable to make any of the goals be on target.
With both teams being scoreless after the first half, the second half was still competitive before the two LC goals with the play picking up a bit, but LC still controlled possession of the ball for most of the second half as well.
"We just talked about the fact we were in so much control of the game and kept controlling the ball, getting shot after shot," West said. "We talked about how they were getting no offensive pressure on us at all, and that we just needed to keep it up and get a little smarter on our method of attacking the goal and keep working.
"We were really fortunate and persistent that we were able to finish it."
LC will now play in the regional semifinals for the second consecutive year, as they'll be facing Bishop Rosecrans of Zanesville, who won their district final match by a 7-0 score. That match will take place at Bloom-Carroll High School on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.
LC's Hannah Binkley scored a goal in the second half.