Brock Netter, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
JACKSON — Jackson missed out on its first chance for championship gold by finishing second in the FAC not so long ago.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
However, when presented with it, the Ironladies made sure not to miss out on a second opportunity to do so.
It took a little bit of time to connect, but once they did, the floodgates opened and the Ironladies collected a 6-0 victory over Fairland in a Division II sectional final on Thursday.
It marks the program’s first sectional crown since 2017.
“This feels really good. Not just for me, but for the seniors as well,” Jackson coach Jon Groff said. “We came out really focused on the task at hand and the girls were very prepared. We were able to get a lot of looks at the net and although we didn’t connect on a lot, we still managed to get six to go and that’s a great sign for us.”
Jackson (13-3-2) was in complete control throughout the opening 40 minutes as Fairland only managed to cross midfield with possession on a handful of occasions. Yet, a familiar problem plagued the Ironladies early.
No matter how close they got to the goal, or how open of a look they had, they just couldn’t connect with the back of the net.
However, they kept shooting and eventually managed to catch a lucky break.
Fairland (3-13) was whistled for a handball in the box, setting up a penalty kick. Jade Winters took the shot and connected with the top left corner of the netting to put the Ironladies ahead 1-0.
“That goal by Jade really helped us pick our heads up and pick up the energy as well,” Jackson’s Hannah Merrill said. “It took us a while to connect, but that slowly began to let us open things up and look for passes in the middle, outside and all over the field.”
Four minutes later, with an open look off a T.J. Carpenter feed, Abby Seimetz struck and connected on a goal, pushing the lead to 2-0.
Seimetz then showed off her skills and selflessness as she weaved her way through Fairland’s back line before finding an open Braelynn Brennan for another goal, stretching the advantage to 3-0 at halftime.
“We’ve had problems all season finding the goal, but once we get that first one, we continue on a roll,” Seimetz said. “We haven’t scored this much since a league game against Washington, so I think we’re doing pretty well.”
Makayla Wyant scored in the opening minute of the second half, Sydney Fain connected four minutes later and Brennen netted her second goal of the night to cap the title victory.
It marked the 11th shoutout goalkeeper Mattie Walburn and Jackson has pitched this season.
Jackson now advances to play in a Division II district semifinal against Athens at 8 p.m. on Monday at Logan High School. The Bulldogs defeated Miami Trace by a 6-0 final to move on.
“We loaded up our schedule with really good quality teams for this time of the season,” Groff said. “I believe we can compete with anyone in our district, and our confidence is growing offensively since we’ve scored nine goals in the last two games now. We’re ready to go, so hopefully this run can continue.”
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