Fairfield scores goal in each half for win over rival Whiteoak 

MOWRYSTOWN — The Fairfield Lions used defense and scored one goal in each half of their Southern Hills Athletic Conference match on Wednesday to defeat the host Whiteoak Wildcats by a 2-1 score. 

Fairfield was first to score with a strike for a goal in the first half around the 18-20-minute mark when Owen VanDyke scored the goal with the assist from teammate Logan Burgess for the 1-0 lead. 

That score stood when the half arrived, but with about 22 minutes remaining in the second half, it was Whiteoak typing the score with Christopher Wessner having a penalty kick stopped by the Lions keeper, only to have the ball bounce right back to Wessner, who put the ball into the back of the net for a 1-1 score. 

About seven minutes later, with around 15 minutes left in the second half, Fairfield regained the lead with a goal by Blake Walters with the assist made by VanDyke for what was the final 2-1 lead. 

“Owen scored the first goal, got the assist on the second goal, and he continues to be in the right place at the right time,” Fairfield head coach Justin Sowders said. “I couldn’t ask more from a freshman. He has blossomed in his role, and he’s been very nice to have, and he has been a big boost for our team.

“Also, Levi Hughes brought out some good energy today on the left wing strike. He took a year off last year, and to come back and find it again, that has been nice to have. Logan Burgess was everywhere tonight, and we couldn’t get a ball to go to anybody tonight without him being involved, so he put a lot of heart into the game, and that was nice as well.”

At goal for the Wildcats, freshman Koltyn Spitznagel finished with seven saves. At goal for the Lions was Anderson Humphreys. 

“Anderson has done outstanding this year. We’ve had numerous shutouts, and we’ve kept every opponent besides CNE to two goals or under, so he has done great and the defense has done great,” Sowders said. “(Anderson) is a true leader back there.”

Also on the Lions defense, with about 30 minutes left in the match, sophomore Liam Bender made a stop near the goal on a Whiteoak kick, following a save by Humphreys that kept the Lions in the lead at the time. 

“Liam (Bender) had had experience playing the back line, and earlier this year he was mid, but we’ve had some injuries so we have moved him around, and he’s played well on the back line,” Sowders said. “He slid out wide and did incredible.”

The win improves Fairfield’s record to 6-2-1 overall and 2-2-0 in the SHAC. 

“We battled the heat well, and we didn't have anyone cramping, which was a miracle,” Sowders said of this being Fairfield’s first game back since fair break. “The first half, the rust was there, but we slowly crept out of it, but we showed up with the first goal. It is something we’ll have to battle. We have some time to work and get better and come out of it.”

Whiteoak is now 2-4-0 overall and 0-3-0 in the SHAC standings. 

“Hats off to them (Fairfield), they played well and they have a good defense,” Whiteoak head coach Adam Schelling said. “I thought we played well. 

“We had some shots, we had some one-on-ones, but they had a really nice free kick goal in the first half, and we just man marking on the second one, and I think we just got caught up high a little bit. Other than those two mishaps, we just couldn't capitalize, but they (FHS) are a good possession team, and we are more of an attack team, and I knew this was going to be close.”

Schelling spoke about being happy overall with his defense.

“Defensively, last year, we gave up a lot of goals, but this year we are tailoring them back some and focusing more defensively on what we’ve got to do, but we have to score offensively too,” Schelling said. “We had the same score against Eastern and a close score against Portsmouth Clay. We were just on the wrong end of a couple games.”

WHS is scheduled to play next on Monday, Sept. 21 at home vs. the Ripley Blue Jays (1-2-0, 4-3-1) in a SHAC match at 6:45 p.m. 

Fairfield is scheduled to play next on Monday, Sept. 21 on the road against SHAC rival, the Peebles Indians (0-4-0, 1-8-0), at 6:45 p.m. 

BOX SCORE
FHS     1 1 — 2
WHS    0 1 — 1