Lady Lions top Hillsboro in rivalry match

LEESBURG — Two of the top teams from Highland County battled on the soccer field Tuesday evening, with the Fairfield Lady Lions gaining the upper hand on the visiting Hillsboro Lady Indians by a 3-1 score at Fairfield High School. 

The two Highland County schools played strong games as each team was even on the scoreboard when halftime arrived, with the score being tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes. 

The second half saw the Lady Lions’ defense not allow any more goals, and their offense broke away for two more goals in the 40-minute half for what became the two-goal win for Fairfield. 

Hillsboro — who was playing their third game in four days — got the quick start, breaking away for a goal as Grace Palmer scored the first goal of the game for a 1-0 lead with the assist from Kobie Miles. 

Fairfield answered with their first goal of the match with 12:41 on the clock as junior Vivian Henninger sent the ball past the keeper for a 1-1 score with the assist from Emerson Zink.  

“I thought our defense did an excellent job in the second half and after the first 30 seconds of the game, but the win tonight is big,” Fairfield head coach Jacob Alexander said. “We are trying the build momentum, and we talked about that after last Friday’s win, and this is what we are trying to get to.

“We have Miami Trace, North Adams and Chillicothe coming up, so we have some big days coming up here, and we are just trying to play good soccer.”

The second half scoring was all Fairfield, taking the lead with 25:45 left in the contest when senior Sophie Humphrey scored the go-ahead goal on a penalty kick for a 2-1 lead. 

Henninger scored her second goal of the match and Fairfield’s third when she put the ball to the back of the net with 11:12 left on the clock with the assist from Rilee Quickle. 

Fairfield keeper Meri Jackson totaled eight saves in 80 minutes of play, including a big save with 23:00 left in regulation. 

“Meri was big when (Hillsboro) got behind our back line. She was amazing tonight,” Alexander said. “The back line with Ruby Henninger, centerback Landry Teeters and our left back Ashlyn Bellamy and a slew of girls I subbed in there, they knew what they were supposed to do, they had great rotations and we can build on that.

“This win was a good rebound from last year,” Alexander continued. “Last year this was the game that made us make some changes and wake up. This year, it is an affirmation that we’re doing things the right way and we can win against good teams.”  

The win by Fairfield improves their overall record to 2-0, while Hillsboro’s record moves to 2-1 overall. 

Next for Hillsboro (2-1) is a Frontier Athletic Conference match on Tuesday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. on the road against Miami Trace as the first five games of the season for the Lady Indians are on the road. 

“It has been a challenging start with injuries and leg cramps tonight, and that was not the way we wanted going into league next week,” Hillsboro head coach Amanda Miller said. “We’ll figure it out.

“We have some things we need to work on, and we don’t want to be perfect at the beginning of the season. We know what we need to work on, and we can adjust and go from there.”

Coach Miller also spoke about some of her players.

“Mary Dietrick on defense, she’s always solid back there on defense,” Miller said. “Ella Jordan and Kobie Miles at the top have been playing well. Also our freshman that was injured tonight, Blair Gard, had helped us out tremendously on defense. She’s been a big help.”

The Lady Lions (2-0) will play again on Monday, Aug. 25 on the road at North Adams in Southern Hills Athletic Conference action at 6:30 p.m.

BOX SCORE
HHS    1 0 — 1
FHS    1 2 — 3