Lady Indians going to Sweet 16
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
JACKSON — One kick of the ball in overtime gave the Hillsboro Lady Indians not only tears of joy, but a district soccer championship and a trip to the Sweet 16.
Down 2-0 in the second half, the Lady Indians scored three unanswered goals, including the game-winning goal by Kaylee Achor in overtime, for a 3-2, Division II District championship win over the Warren Lady Warriors Saturday morning at Jackson High School.
HHS, the home team, improves to 17-1-1 overall.
"I'm so proud of the girls," HHS coach Leslie Molen said. "They gutted it out, played hard and Kaylee's goal couldn't have come at a better time.
"That goal was needed at that time."
With rain periodically drizzling over Holzer Field inside of Alumni Stadium, the start of the match didn't go in favor of the Lady Indians as they trailed by a 1-0 score. Warren's Melissa Dickerson put the Indians down by one goal as she scored on a penalty kick with 13:44 left in the half. The foul was called on HHS for aggressively interfering with a shot near the goal.
Though HHS trailed 1-0 after 40 minutes, they had their chances in the opening half but were just off target on their shots. Also in the opening half, the HHS defense kept Warren away from the goal (except for the penalty kick). One play in particular was the defense of Taylor Moberly stopping an attempt by the Lady Warriors around the 6:13 mark of the first half.
Again, in the early stages of the second half, HHS had opportunities to tie the score, but instead it was Warren who took a two-goal advantage with Raelyn Gardner kicking the ball to the right side of the net with 36:06 on the scoreboard clock.
The 2-0 lead didn't last too long as Cheyney Myers cut the deficit in half for the Lady Indians with a goal from 15 yards away to the left side of the net with 34:23 remaining in regulation. She was assisted by Achor.
That goal by Myers was the first of three straight unanswered goals by the Lady Indians as they became the first HHS soccer team to win a district title in over a decade.
No. 1 seed HHS tied the match on a crafty corner kick by Kaylynn Bell, as her kick sailed past the keeper and into the left far end of the net with 18:40 remaining, prompting a momentum-shifting celebration by the Lady Indians as the score was now tied at 2-2.
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HHS was going for the win in regulation, but Warren's defense didn't allow the Lady Indians to obtain the victory in regulation. The same could be said for the HHS defense as keeper Rachel Sexton made a diving stop with 6.0 left on the clock, forcing sudden death overtime.
Then came the overtime period as No. 3 seeded Warren nearly ended the game on a header, but the HHS defense was able to kick the ball safely away from the net with 14:25 on the clock in OT.
That defense output was enough for HHS to start forcing pressure near the goal of Warren as Achor kicked the ball, which was blocked, but came back by scoring off the rebound with the keeper out of place on the ground, as Achor safely tapped the ball into the back of the right corner of the net with two nearby Warren defenders looking on for the win.
Achor's goal prompted the biggest celebration of the day for HHS as they all came to their teammate with the hands raised in victory. The goal came with 8:00 remaining in the overtime.
"Winning like this, coming back from being down by two goals says a lot about this team and these girls," Molen said. "At halftime, we related this to the Lynchburg-Clay game from earlier in the year where we were able to come back after being down by two goals.
"That game was the driving force from this game and says a great deal about the girls' character. We just stuck in there the whole game and played for the entire 90 or so minutes."
This is the first time one of Molen's teams has won the district title as she's had teams in the past fall in this game.
"It feels good to finally be on the winning side of one of these games," she said. "I can't say enough how proud of the girls I am. I knew we had something special with this group at the start of the summer."
HHS has outscored their opponents in the postseason 14-2 in three games. HHS has also defeated Athens 7-0 and Logan 4-0. Warren had defeated Washington 1-0 and Unioto 4-1 to reach the district final match.
The Lady Indians will now play in the Division II Regional Semifinal on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at Upper Arlington High School against Columbus St. Francis DeSales. DeSales is the No. 2 seed from their district as they defeated Granville 1-0 in overtime Saturday for their district title. DeSales has also defeated Columbus Bishop Hartley 3-0, Jonathan Alder 2-1 and Columbus East 13-0 this postseason.
Down 2-0 in the second half, the Lady Indians scored three unanswered goals, including the game-winning goal by Kaylee Achor in overtime, for a 3-2, Division II District championship win over the Warren Lady Warriors Saturday morning at Jackson High School.
HHS, the home team, improves to 17-1-1 overall.
"I'm so proud of the girls," HHS coach Leslie Molen said. "They gutted it out, played hard and Kaylee's goal couldn't have come at a better time.
"That goal was needed at that time."
With rain periodically drizzling over Holzer Field inside of Alumni Stadium, the start of the match didn't go in favor of the Lady Indians as they trailed by a 1-0 score. Warren's Melissa Dickerson put the Indians down by one goal as she scored on a penalty kick with 13:44 left in the half. The foul was called on HHS for aggressively interfering with a shot near the goal.
Though HHS trailed 1-0 after 40 minutes, they had their chances in the opening half but were just off target on their shots. Also in the opening half, the HHS defense kept Warren away from the goal (except for the penalty kick). One play in particular was the defense of Taylor Moberly stopping an attempt by the Lady Warriors around the 6:13 mark of the first half.
Again, in the early stages of the second half, HHS had opportunities to tie the score, but instead it was Warren who took a two-goal advantage with Raelyn Gardner kicking the ball to the right side of the net with 36:06 on the scoreboard clock.
The 2-0 lead didn't last too long as Cheyney Myers cut the deficit in half for the Lady Indians with a goal from 15 yards away to the left side of the net with 34:23 remaining in regulation. She was assisted by Achor.
That goal by Myers was the first of three straight unanswered goals by the Lady Indians as they became the first HHS soccer team to win a district title in over a decade.
No. 1 seed HHS tied the match on a crafty corner kick by Kaylynn Bell, as her kick sailed past the keeper and into the left far end of the net with 18:40 remaining, prompting a momentum-shifting celebration by the Lady Indians as the score was now tied at 2-2.
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HHS was going for the win in regulation, but Warren's defense didn't allow the Lady Indians to obtain the victory in regulation. The same could be said for the HHS defense as keeper Rachel Sexton made a diving stop with 6.0 left on the clock, forcing sudden death overtime.
Then came the overtime period as No. 3 seeded Warren nearly ended the game on a header, but the HHS defense was able to kick the ball safely away from the net with 14:25 on the clock in OT.
That defense output was enough for HHS to start forcing pressure near the goal of Warren as Achor kicked the ball, which was blocked, but came back by scoring off the rebound with the keeper out of place on the ground, as Achor safely tapped the ball into the back of the right corner of the net with two nearby Warren defenders looking on for the win.
Achor's goal prompted the biggest celebration of the day for HHS as they all came to their teammate with the hands raised in victory. The goal came with 8:00 remaining in the overtime.
"Winning like this, coming back from being down by two goals says a lot about this team and these girls," Molen said. "At halftime, we related this to the Lynchburg-Clay game from earlier in the year where we were able to come back after being down by two goals.
"That game was the driving force from this game and says a great deal about the girls' character. We just stuck in there the whole game and played for the entire 90 or so minutes."
This is the first time one of Molen's teams has won the district title as she's had teams in the past fall in this game.
"It feels good to finally be on the winning side of one of these games," she said. "I can't say enough how proud of the girls I am. I knew we had something special with this group at the start of the summer."
HHS has outscored their opponents in the postseason 14-2 in three games. HHS has also defeated Athens 7-0 and Logan 4-0. Warren had defeated Washington 1-0 and Unioto 4-1 to reach the district final match.
The Lady Indians will now play in the Division II Regional Semifinal on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at Upper Arlington High School against Columbus St. Francis DeSales. DeSales is the No. 2 seed from their district as they defeated Granville 1-0 in overtime Saturday for their district title. DeSales has also defeated Columbus Bishop Hartley 3-0, Jonathan Alder 2-1 and Columbus East 13-0 this postseason.