Photos by Steven Wright | Greene County News
Legacy Christian sophomore Claire Solomon (12) celebrates after scoring the go-ahead and game winning goal during Tuesday’s Division V girls soccer regional semifinal against Greeneview at Skyhawk Stadium in Fairborn.
Greeneview’s Daylee Sandlin, Mya Simpson and Elyse Waggoner embrace one another as Rylee Queary walks off the field at the game’s conclusion.
Legacy Christian celebrates its win and berth into the regional final.
FAIRBORN — Everything was finally going to be decided on Tuesday between Greeneview and Legacy Christian.
Check out more photos from the match between Greeneview and Legacy Christian.
The two teams faced one another during the regular season on Sept. 28 and tied 3-3 in the match.
In the district tournament seed voting LCA got the top spot, but only after the two teams tied for the most votes and needed a coin flip to determine which got to be No. 1 and which was No. 2.
Both had just won the first ever district championship for their schools and were ranked in the top five of the state rankings for D-V teams in the MaxPreps rankings.
And with nearly 10 minutes left to play in Tuesday’s regional semifinal at Skyhawk Stadium in Fairborn, the teams were again deadlocked on the scoreboard.
Both teams had done everything they could to be proved equal. But at this stage of the season, there finally had to be a winner.
LCA’s Claire Solomon found herself in the fortunate position of being the recipient of a loose ball that she fired into the net with 10:39 left to play, and the Knights held off a final charge by the Rams to prevail 4-3 and advance to the regional championship match for the first time ever.
“We’re just all so thankful with the abilities that God has given to us and it’s just amazing,” Claire said. “My teammates are incredible and it’s just so much fun and great t have a win like this.”
Her heroics began with a corner kick sent in from left of Greeneview’s net which was tipped away by goalie Keeley Anderson. Ali Solomon tracked it down and tried to get a shot off but it was blocked by Temperance Hoke for the Rams. However the ball got caught up in between four defenders and it allowed Ali to sneak in from behind and boot it through the box where Claire made the heads up play to reach her foot out and one-time it on net.
“It was all just bang, bang and I was just like where is it and had to find it,” Claire said. “I found it and I got something on it and it just felt so good.”
A chaotic first half and tense second half displayed the talent both sides possessed and how evenly the match played out. Despite seven goals being scored, the teams combined to hold leads for fewer than 10 minutes of game time until the final 10 minutes.
Allie Graves quickly jumpstarted LCA’s offense less than five minutes after kickoff by sending a ball from midfield over the top of Greeneview’s back line, being tracked down and eventually deflected to Ava Combs who scored the first goal. Greeneview (18-3-1) needed just over 90 seconds to respond as Rylee Queary gained possession in the box after a scramble and tied the match at one.
Both sides applied constant pressure in what amounted to a track meet racing back and forth with little obstruction. Mya Simpson put the Rams in front for the first time by rocketing a free kick that struck the right corner of the net where the crossbar and post meet that deflected in, but Graves immediately raced to the other end and equalized the score just 32 seconds later.
“I’m not surprised at it, but it was something we wanted to avoid,” LCA head coach Shawn Woods said about the up and down pace. “I was a bit nervous about it because they’re so fast and if you get into a back and forth goal scoring match you just never really know how that’s going to go.”
The Knights (18-2-1) regained the lead with 21:19 left in the first half after Graves scored again and helped maintain the advantage for a few more minutes than either team had been able up to that point. The Rams continued its pressure, though, and several failed corner kicks eventually led into a counter attack for LCA that was tackled back by Elyse Waggoner.
She dribbled inside the box and with her left foot tried to send a shot at the net that ended up being chested away but still hit off the post. Simpson raced in after Autumn Allport in net fell out of position due to the post hit and scored her second to knot the match at three.
“I thought this might actually be more like a 1-0 or 2-1 game, not something that was this high scoring,” Greeneview head coach Nikki Hurley said. “I mean, it’s kind of fun to watch at least.”
After halftime, both back lines appeared to gradually gain the advantage as fatigue began setting in but the scoring chances did not end. Roughly midway through the second half a four-minute stretch saw the Knights three times get shots off that missed wide of the net, and Daylee Sandlin for the Rams produced a one-on-one situation at the other end of the pitch she was just unable to properly direct before the ball past the goal line.
As the minutes ticked away, the tension was felt that the next goal was coming. Another attempted shot on net by Chloe Queary for Greeneview called on her teammates asking for a potential hand ball after a defender raised her hand to protect her face from the incoming shot. LCA a minute later got a free kick chance that Anna Sweeney hit off the crossbar and bounced back into play.
It would have been fitting had the match made its way into penalty kicks, but LCA came up with the separation needed to earn a chance at making state.
“It means a ton to the girls,” Woods said. “It’s something that hasn’t been done before and I don’t think it was expected. When you lose 10 seniors the season before, you really aren’t expected to do anything. Most everybody says it’s rebuilding, and I said from the beginning with this group we’re not rebuilding, we’re reloading.”
Greeneview loses five seniors but will return the majority of its core next season. The group discovered this season the steps needed in order to advance in tournament play and believes the expectations are now to repeat their accomplishments.
“We had a phenomenal season,” Hurley said. “We broke the school record for wins in a season, never lost at home and these girls never gave up in every single game that played. You saw that tonight and they just ran out of gas but played with heart until the end.”
Legacy Christian will play in the regional final at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Springfield High School. It will be a matchup of the top two teams in the state rankings with No. 1 Madeira awaiting the Knights as the opponent.
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
