Fairfield Lady Lions gain first sectional crown since 2016
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — It has been a long time coming for the Fairfield Lady Lions, but on Thursday night, they defended their home field in the Division III SE District Sectional Finals by defeating the visiting Southeastern Lady Panthers, winning by a 8-5 score en route to their first trip to the district round since 2016.
The now-sectional champion Lady Lions (11-5-0) never trailed in the match. Rather, they had Cadence Saunders score five goals, while Ella Newkirk scored three goals for the eight goals scored by Fairfield. Saunders now has 70 points this season, which includes 28 goals and 14 assists. Newkirk has 67 points this season, with 28 goals and 11 assists.
“I was looking back, and last year we were 3-11, and we’ve turned it around this year and are 11-5, so the girls have really put in the work,” FHS head coach Jacob Alexander said. “I really was to give credit and praise to Zach Campbell, the girls assistant coach, because without him this isn’t possible.
“He’s really worked well with our defense, and he was a defensive player in high school, and having someone who played defense and can coach it is a big thing and has really helped this team.”
Coach Alexander continued to talk about how the Lady Lions have improved over the span of one year, as they’ve earned eight more wins this season before the upcoming district semifinal match takes place.
“The juniors who were sophomores last year had to weather that storm a year ago, and that gave them a fire coming into this year to be a better team,” Alexander said. “This freshman class, I can’t say enough good things about them. We are starting four freshmen with Kennedy Zink up top, Kenzie Tolle at mid and then Avery Teeters and Emma Vance on the back line … the additions of them have really helped.”
The first goals came from a breakaway play by Newkirk, as the junior went straight to the net with no defender near her for the first goal of the match less than two minutes into the match (38:38) for the 1-0 lead.
Fairfield added to their lead to take a three-goal advantage with the next two goals scored by Saunders, as she sent the ball to the corner of the net with 31:05 on the clock, followed by another goal going into the corner of the net past the keeper at 30:35 for a 3-0 lead in the first half.
The lead improved to a four-goal advantage with a second goal by Newkirk at the 26:04 mark of the half with the assist off a pass by Braylee Bartley.
Southeastern (8-5-1) answered with the next two goals of the match with those coming from Eva Kingery, as this was the first of her three goals in the match with 23:50 left in the first half. Her second goal came with 20:34 still on the first-half clock, cutting the Fairfield lead in half at 4-2.
The Lady Lions added one last first-half goal when Saunders went down the field and on the breakaway smashed the ball past the Lady Panther keeper for her third goal of the half and the first-half hat trick, giving Fairfield a 5-2 lead with 8:33 left in the opening 40 minutes of play.
That score stood at the half, and when the second half began, it was at the 21:10 mark where Southeastern’s Kingery scored a goal, bringing the Lady Panthers back to within two goals of tying the score.
That deficit didn’t last long, as Fairfield added back to their lead with Saunders scoring her fourth goal of the tournament match, off a pass by Newkirk, for the three-goal advantage at 6-3 with 19:09 left in the match.
That lead then went to 7-3 with Saunders scoring her fifth goal with 17:12 on the second-half clock.
“They are both all-league players, and they both will probably be all-district at some level, but they are both very skilled players, very athletic players and for them to put on a show tonight like they did, it is a testament to the hard work they have put in all year,” Alexander said.
Southeastern continued to battle as Paige Mustard scored a goal with 14:03 remaining, as her goal also came on a breakaway from the opposing defense.
Fairfield’s final goal was a hat trick for Newkirk with 12:16 on the clock, and Southeastern added one last goal with 12:02 left with that coming from Sierra Mitten, as Mitten finishes the season with 40 goals.
“Tonight’s effort, we have to clean up some things on defense, but we came out ahead, and that is the main thing,” Alexander said.
Assists for Fairfield were credited to Newkirk, Emmi Vance and Saunders.
For the match, Fairfield out-shot Southeastern, 35-11, with 22 of the Fairfield shots being shots at goal. SEHS had eight shots at goal.
Fairfield keeper Alayna McIntosh finished with three saves, as she now has 60 saves this season.
Next for the No. 7 seeded Lady Lions is a district semifinals match on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at Wheelersburg (13-3-1), who are the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The match at Wheelersburg is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. On Thursday (Oct. 22) Wheelersburg defeated South Point, 3-1.
“Wheelersburg is a good team. We are going to have to be ready, and we’ll be playing on turf,” Alexander said. “We play on grass, so that is a little different, so we are going to have to get ourselves ready for that.
“If we play our game we have a chance, so I am excited for what’s to come.”
[[In-content Ad]]
The now-sectional champion Lady Lions (11-5-0) never trailed in the match. Rather, they had Cadence Saunders score five goals, while Ella Newkirk scored three goals for the eight goals scored by Fairfield. Saunders now has 70 points this season, which includes 28 goals and 14 assists. Newkirk has 67 points this season, with 28 goals and 11 assists.
“I was looking back, and last year we were 3-11, and we’ve turned it around this year and are 11-5, so the girls have really put in the work,” FHS head coach Jacob Alexander said. “I really was to give credit and praise to Zach Campbell, the girls assistant coach, because without him this isn’t possible.
“He’s really worked well with our defense, and he was a defensive player in high school, and having someone who played defense and can coach it is a big thing and has really helped this team.”
Coach Alexander continued to talk about how the Lady Lions have improved over the span of one year, as they’ve earned eight more wins this season before the upcoming district semifinal match takes place.
“The juniors who were sophomores last year had to weather that storm a year ago, and that gave them a fire coming into this year to be a better team,” Alexander said. “This freshman class, I can’t say enough good things about them. We are starting four freshmen with Kennedy Zink up top, Kenzie Tolle at mid and then Avery Teeters and Emma Vance on the back line … the additions of them have really helped.”
The first goals came from a breakaway play by Newkirk, as the junior went straight to the net with no defender near her for the first goal of the match less than two minutes into the match (38:38) for the 1-0 lead.
Fairfield added to their lead to take a three-goal advantage with the next two goals scored by Saunders, as she sent the ball to the corner of the net with 31:05 on the clock, followed by another goal going into the corner of the net past the keeper at 30:35 for a 3-0 lead in the first half.
The lead improved to a four-goal advantage with a second goal by Newkirk at the 26:04 mark of the half with the assist off a pass by Braylee Bartley.
Southeastern (8-5-1) answered with the next two goals of the match with those coming from Eva Kingery, as this was the first of her three goals in the match with 23:50 left in the first half. Her second goal came with 20:34 still on the first-half clock, cutting the Fairfield lead in half at 4-2.
The Lady Lions added one last first-half goal when Saunders went down the field and on the breakaway smashed the ball past the Lady Panther keeper for her third goal of the half and the first-half hat trick, giving Fairfield a 5-2 lead with 8:33 left in the opening 40 minutes of play.
That score stood at the half, and when the second half began, it was at the 21:10 mark where Southeastern’s Kingery scored a goal, bringing the Lady Panthers back to within two goals of tying the score.
That deficit didn’t last long, as Fairfield added back to their lead with Saunders scoring her fourth goal of the tournament match, off a pass by Newkirk, for the three-goal advantage at 6-3 with 19:09 left in the match.
That lead then went to 7-3 with Saunders scoring her fifth goal with 17:12 on the second-half clock.
“They are both all-league players, and they both will probably be all-district at some level, but they are both very skilled players, very athletic players and for them to put on a show tonight like they did, it is a testament to the hard work they have put in all year,” Alexander said.
Southeastern continued to battle as Paige Mustard scored a goal with 14:03 remaining, as her goal also came on a breakaway from the opposing defense.
Fairfield’s final goal was a hat trick for Newkirk with 12:16 on the clock, and Southeastern added one last goal with 12:02 left with that coming from Sierra Mitten, as Mitten finishes the season with 40 goals.
“Tonight’s effort, we have to clean up some things on defense, but we came out ahead, and that is the main thing,” Alexander said.
Assists for Fairfield were credited to Newkirk, Emmi Vance and Saunders.
For the match, Fairfield out-shot Southeastern, 35-11, with 22 of the Fairfield shots being shots at goal. SEHS had eight shots at goal.
Fairfield keeper Alayna McIntosh finished with three saves, as she now has 60 saves this season.
Next for the No. 7 seeded Lady Lions is a district semifinals match on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at Wheelersburg (13-3-1), who are the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The match at Wheelersburg is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. On Thursday (Oct. 22) Wheelersburg defeated South Point, 3-1.
“Wheelersburg is a good team. We are going to have to be ready, and we’ll be playing on turf,” Alexander said. “We play on grass, so that is a little different, so we are going to have to get ourselves ready for that.
“If we play our game we have a chance, so I am excited for what’s to come.”
[[In-content Ad]]