Lady Knights rebound from loss to Colts to tame Tygers
The Lady Knights opened Ohio Cardinal Conference tournament action on Thursday, Oct. 8, and after battling the Clear Fork Colts to a scoreless draw in the first half, West Holmes gave up three second-half goals and fell 3-0."We played in the rain on an already messy field at Clear Fork," said West Holmes coach Josh Wengerd. "We were tied 0-0 at the half. Our game plan was working. We wanted to pinch the defense and keep our outside mids back to limit Clear Fork's shots on goal or limit them to outside the 18-yard box."
The strategy worked until the 37:30 mark of the second half when the Colts scored off a corner kick.
"Usually Ayla catches corner kicks, but this one went over top behind her," Wengerd said. "Kate Myers was back in the goal behind Uhl, and when she tried to clear the ball she slipped in the mud, and Clear Fork's Martha Staab was there to put it in."
Clear Fork's Staab struck again with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, scoring off a free kick. Shelbi Kindt tacked on another goal less than a minute later to close out the scoring.
"We had a couple of decent chances each half, but were really limited offensively," Wengerd said.
West Holmes was outshot 28-4, and out-cornered 6-1.
Uhl had 23 saves in goal for the Lady Knights.
"Beside the couple of hiccups late in the game, I was pleased with our team effort," Wengerd said. "That is something we have been talking about all year, and even after we gave up the goal early in the second half, we didn't just fold; we played strong and it took them another 20 minutes to score."
West Holmes hosted Mansfield Senior Monday night in the consolation round of the OCC tournament and won in an overtime-penalty kick (PK) shoot-out.
"We lead 1-0 at the half," Wengerd said. "Denise Boyd scored at the 22:31 minute mark off a corner kick. The ball was deflected, bouncing around and Denise finished a beautiful volley, just under the crossbar and just over the goalie's hand."
Senior tied it up early in the second half on a PK at the 37:27 mark. West Holmes found the back of the net 10 minutes later (24:43).
"The ball was again bouncing around after we had a free kick and Amy Boyd, Denise's little sister, was there to stick it in," Wengerd said. Senior scored in the 78th minute (1:32). Olivia Augustine (she also scored the PK) was left alone at the 18 and she ripped a shot that beat the keeper and found the side net.
"We played a 10-minute 'Sudden Victory' overtime, and nobody was 'Suddenly Victorious' so we went to a five-player PK shoot-off," Wengerd said.
Senior won the coin toss and made West Holmes shoot first.
Denise Boyd was first up and she buried her shot. Senior's first shooter missed.
Up second for the Lady Knights was Celeste Parsons.
"She is our PK champ at practice, but she missed wide," Wengerd said. Senior's second shooter also missed.
Up third for West Holmes was Courtney Kozak, who hit the post: No goal.
Senior's third shooter also missed, so the Lady Knights were still up 1-0.
Fourth up was Amy Boyd and her shot went over the goal. Senior's fourth shooter made it, tying it at 1-1.
Schuyler Jones volunteered to shoot last for West Holmes, and she buried her shot in the left side net.
Augustine was the last shooter for the Tygers and she shot over the goal, giving the Lady Knights a 2-1 victory.
"This is our second conference win this year, a new best for the team," Wengerd said. "This is also their first-ever OCC tournament win. We matched last year's win total with five. We go to Madison Thursday, Oct. 15, for the season finale."
The JV lost 1-0. Their record is now 3-9-0 overall, 0-8-0 in the OCC.