Beavers give it their best shot
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CADIZ -- Down 4-0 late in the match, top-seeded Beaver Local fought back but dropped a tough 4-2 decision to second-seeded Tri-Valley in a Division III district championship girls' soccer match at Harrison Central's Wagner Field on Wednesday night.
"I asked them to leave everything on the field, and I really believe they did," said Beaver Local coach Liz Connor. "We started to figure things out offensively, but I think it just came a little too late in the game."
"We just talked about playing possession," said Tri-Valley coach Emily Reilly. "We like to control the passing game and I think that we did that very well. We were focusing on that and controlling what we can control. We knew if we could control the ball, then we knew we had a good chance of coming out with a victory."
With the setback, Beaver Local, which made it to state last season in Division IV but moved up to Division III this season, concluded another outstanding campaign with a 14-6 record.
"I don't have the exact number but we were one of the smaller ones (in Division III)," said Connor. "The girls just have a ton or heart. We've had to make adjustments because of injuries and other things throughout the season and they came out and played and gave it their all every time they stepped on the field this season, so I'm very proud of them."
Meanwhile, Tri-Valley (14-3-3) advances to the Division III regional where it will face the winner of No. 1 seed Marietta (15-1-2)) vs. No. 3 seed Lancaster Fairfield Union (13-4-2) in a regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Tuesday at at Logan Chieftain Stadium. Marietta and Fairfield Union are scheduled to play their district final Thursday night.
"We've not had a district final (championship) in the last few years, we made it to the regional final probably about 10 or 12 years ago," said Reilly.
Tri-Valley wasted little time setting the tempo as Gabbi Matz sent a shot into the back of the net off a deflection from 20 yards to give the Scotties a 1-0 lead just over three minutes into the match.
"It (the early goal) was very important," said Reilly. "We kind of talk about setting the tone -- the longer you let teams hang around the more confidence it gives them, so we kind of talk about if we can control the game and get the first goal that kind of sets the tone for us, and puts us in a good spot to lead for the rest of the game."
Tri-Valley increased its lead to 2-0 at the 17:42 mark of the first half when Emma Stoneburner scored on a shot from 18 yards out from the right side. The score remained that way at halftime.
"I believe our legs were just not with us after playing the double overtime the other night against Steubenville," said Connor. "We were a little bit late reacting to some of the balls being played, but they dug deep the whole 80 minutes and stuck with it."
The Scotties increased their lead to as much as 4-0 in the second half, following another goal by Stoneburner and a goal off a free kick by teammate Caydee Shoenleben with 5:39 remaining.
But undaunted, Beaver Local fought back and closed the gap to 4-1 when Charlie Allison found the back of the net with 5:00 left.
The Beavers then cut the Scotties' lead in half when Beaver Local junior standout Peyton Dunn, the second-leading goal scorer in Ohio, scored on a penalty kick with just 41 seconds left, making it 4-2. The Scotties went on to close out the win.
"We're kind of like a whole pieces team," said Reilly. "They are very unselfish, a lot of them have been playing together since they were very, very young and they just play well for each other. I think our center mids did a really good job distributing the ball, playing with their head up and finding those open passing lanes, and I think our outside mids did a great job on the backside of the goal making sure they were there."
Tri-Valley led in shots on goal, 17-12.
Beaver Local goalkeeper Tatum Duncan recorded 12 saves and Tri-Valley goalkeeper Klara Drummonds had 10 saves.
Beaver Local returns 16 players, including standouts Dunn and Leah Stewart next season as the Beavers looks to be one of the top teams in the area once again.
"Peyton and Leah are coming back, as well as a lot of different role players for us," said Connor. "We're definitely losing some key positions (to graduation) with the seniors that we have, but we have a pretty big eighth-grade class with our middle school program that started up in the last few years, so hopefully that's going to give us some experience right off the get-go."