Round two of the battle of the Black and Blue took place on Thursday evening, Oct. 6 as the Washington Lady Lions traveled to Miami Trace to take on the Lady Panthers in a rivalry soccer match. In the first contest between the county rivals, Miami Trace won, 1-0. The goal came on a penalty kick by freshman Hailey Webster.
The first half of Thursday’s game was very physical, much like their contest earlier in the season. Both teams threatened to score multiple times but were unsuccessful for much of the first half. That changed with just under 13 minutes remaining before the half when junior captain Katherine Hynes connected on a shot into the back of the net, giving the Lady Panthers a 1-0 lead. About 10 minutes later, senior captain Jana Griffith sent one into the net to extend the lead to 2-0. This was the halftime score.
Washington had multiple shots on goal in the second half but were unable to get anything past sophomore goalkeeper Gabriella Miller. Washington was also able to keep Miami Trace out of the scoring column in the second half, making the final score: Miami Trace 2, Washington 0.
Statistically for MT, Griffith led the Lady Panthers with seven shots on goal including the goal scored in the first half. Hynes had two shots on goal, one of which went in for a goal. Hailey Webster also had two shots on goal, and Hannah Houck and Sophia Schirm each had one shot on goal. At goalie, Miller had four saves.
Statistically for Washington, Jordyn Gray led the Lady Lions with five shots on goal. Destany Snyder had four, Addison Chambers had two, and Kaithlyn Maquiling and Jordan McCane each had one shot on goal. At goalie, Calee Ellars had 12 saves.
Miami Trace head coach Chad Tolbert spoke about the victory after the game.
“We knew it was going to be a battle. We edged them out last time 1-0 so we knew they were going to be ready. Again, it’s always this game where you can throw previous games and all the records out the window. We came out and we played from the get-go a lot better than we did the first time, and that’s reflected in the score this time. We thought that we should have scored at least one or two more last time, but when you don’t come out ready to play that doesn’t happen. This time we knew that they were going to come out and give us their best effort, and we were ready.”
The victory brings the Lady Panthers record to 5-9-1 overall and 2-7-1 in the FAC. Miami Trace plays next on Monday, Oct. 10 at home against Waverly. This will be Senior Night for both the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams. The girls will play at 5 p.m. followed by the boys at 7 p.m. Senior Night festivities will take place between the two games.
Washington head coach Brandan Ellars also spoke about the game following the loss.
“Tough one. It’s always a battle. It’s always a challenge for us to come out and play on turf. We have no facility that has any turf to practice on. But, you know, control the controllables. We can’t control the playing surface, we can’t control how the other team plays or their physicality, we can’t control how the refs call the game. All we can do is control ourselves, have a positive attitude, and come out and give it our all. Tonight, we did that. We played better tonight than we have in the last two or three weeks. It was a stride back in the right direction. I still had a couple of girls sitting out that are starters, and those girls are important, but the girls that came off the bench came into position and played their hearts out and that’s all I can ask.”
He finished, “Kudos to them. They have a good program that’s up and coming. They’re young just like us. I’m excited to see where Fayette County soccer goes in the next couple of years. Both teams are young.”
With the loss, Washington falls to 2-12-1. They finished 0-10 in the FAC this season. They are back in action on Monday, Oct. 10 at Logan Elm. The Lady Lions will be home on Wednesday, Oct. 12 against Yellow Springs. This will be Senior Night for Washington, with festivities beginning at 5 p.m. The game is set to start at 5:30 p.m.
The sectional draw for boys’ and girls’ soccer is on Sunday, Oct. 9. The Record-Herald will have information regarding sectional match ups for both schools in an edition next week.
