Wild goal leads to Lynchburg-Clay win over Hillsboro

HILLSBORO  — The Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs may have turned the corner they've been waiting for in the 2026 season.

This season hasn't been what head coach Dennis West and his team are accustomed to with two wins in their first nine games.

That may have all changed Monday night as the Lady Mustangs had their full 25-player roster healthy and available for the first time all season, and it showed as they won a road non-conference match against the host Hillsboro Lady Indians by a 1-0 score.

“This was our 10th game of the year, so we’ve still got half the season, minus one to play,” LCHS head coach Dennis West said. “Between the fair and canceled games, we are just now halfway through our schedule. We still have a lot of soccer to play. 

“This is also the first night I’ve had all 25 here and been healthy all year. Lily Layne came back Friday night against Peebles, and that was her first game back since five or six days before our season began since she was injured. Having her back is immense. Addie Cordrey had been hurt, and she’s back too, so it is nice to have all of them back. It makes a lot of difference in our rotation and what we can do back there.” 

Lynchburg-Clay's goal came in the second half with 9:23 remaining in regulation as a corner kick by sophomore Everleigh Barry began a sequence of events with a shot, a ricochet and then another deflection that eventually resulted in a goal from sophomore Kinsey Fulks for the one-goal advantage. 

Before the lone goal of the match, it was a game full of missed opportunities on some shot attempts and very strong defense from both teams.

The first half saw both Lynchburg-Clay and Hillsboro each getting settled in for the match, with neither team taking control.

Hillsboro keeper Phoebe Holland made a save at the 14:00 mark, and HHS came close to a goal, but was off target with around 10:00 left in the first half.

Eventually, each team had a couple chances to score a first-half goal, but the score was tied at 0-0 when the first half ended.

The second half was just as competitive with each team having chances to add goals, but the defenses of both squads stood out and stepped up for basically the entire second half. 

LC keeper Savannah Bell finished with eight saves in just her third game at goal this season. 

“The defense was outstanding,” West said. “Savannah, this is her third game at goal, and she was a keeper a couple years ago coming up through the ranks, and she is getting her footing back, and she is really active with really good hands. She has a really good sense of what's going on in front of her. That’s been good to have her back there. That’s been a big positive. Again, our defense played well. We played six or seven girls back there, and we didn’t have any problems with any of them.”

Coach West spoke about the state of his team and how this win can help with the remainder of the season. 

“We are just so far behind, and I don’t think anybody realizes what kind of impact one player or two, especially somebody of Lily’s caliber, exactly how much of an impact that causes for a team.” West said. “Plus we started three freshmen, and two or three sophomores, and they are getting there. 

“High school soccer is a bit of a learning curve, and we are finally getting to a point where we can hang in there with some of the better teams.”

The following day, the Lady Mustangs lost to the Blanchester Lady Wildcats in non-conference action by a 3-2 score. 

Goals scored for LCHS were from junior Lily Ferguson with two. Assists were credited to Cordrey and freshman Lillian West. Bell at goal finished with 11 saves. 

After the two matches, Lynchburg-Clay stands at 3-7-1 overall and 2-2-0 overall. 

Next for LCHS is a match on Saturday, Oct. 3 at home against Westfall at 11 a.m. in non-conference play.