John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
McDERMOTT — Just 11 days ago, Minford handed Wheelersburg a 7-2 drubbing to capture an outright Southern Ohio Conference title — the Falcons’ second win over the Pirates this fall.
CREDIT: John Bruce/SOSA
But 11 days can make all the difference in the world.
Wheelersburg turned the tables on Monday, ending Minford’s magical season by a 2-1 final in a Division II district semifinal, advancing to the program’s sixth district championship game in the past nine years.
With 18:11 left in the second half, Wheelersburg senior Jocelyn Tilley received a pass from classmate Annie Coriell just inside the box, and Tilley sent the Pirate faithful into a frenzy.
“It was a great feeling,” Tilley said. “We wanted to beat Minford so bad because we know that they shouldn’t have beaten us the first two times they played us. We’re pretty even. I saw Annie go in the corner and was like, ‘OK, we’ve practiced this all the time.’ So I put my whole body into [the shot].”
Holding onto the late lead was no easy task as the Falcons feature an outstanding offensive trio of Lexi Conkel (49 goals), Haley Knore (26) and Mychal Cron (10 goals, 20 assists) that could conceivably make a comeback.
However, a defensive change that moved sophomore spark plug Izzy Darnell to the sweeper position, along with outstanding play from Olivia Deacon, Maddison Kotcamp and Haleigh Collier, kept the Falcons from getting the tying goal.
“We played fantastic together,” Darnell said. “We talked, we watched all the balls and wouldn’t let anything go through us. Giving up one compared to seven was amazing. I’m so proud of our defense. We really stepped it up this game.”
The action began early with both teams making hard pushes at the goal.
Wheelersburg got an early shot on goal from Mia Vastine, while Knore put one on target for the Falcons on the other end.
Minford was called for three fouls just on the outside of the box, and each of the ensuing shots on goal was just missed high of the crossbar by the Pirates. On the other end, Conkel got her best look of the night, but Wheelersburg’s Amber Blevins made a sprawling save to keep the clean sheet for the time being.
On the counterattack, Tilley crossed a ball to Bella Miller, who touched it ahead to Coriell. Coriell beat the defense and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net with 3:34 remaining in the first half to give Wheelersburg a 1-0 lead.
“It’s always incredible to be a part of something like that. But when you do those things day in and day out, you know when your moments are going to come,” Coriell said. “You do the stuff that’s textbook and you get it done. You have to take it one step at a time, get to the ball first and then all the stuff is clear from there on out.”
While the Falcons trailed at the break, they were still getting quality defensive play from Maggie Risner and Ella Estep, along with Nevaeh Porter controlling the action from her goalkeeper position. With that solid defense, the Falcons seemed to know they would get back in the game.
And with 25 minutes left in the contest, they finally got on the scoreboard on a brilliant hustle goal from Pendleton. The Pirates misplayed a ball in the box, which took an extra bounce and Pendleton raced in and powered it into the back of the net to tie the match at 1-1.
11 days ago, Minford trailed 2-1 to the Pirates in the second half, before scoring six unanswered goals.
This time, however, the Pirates were prepared for the quick onslaught that beat them previously. There would be no repeat performance.
The Falcons looked to play through balls to Knore and Conkel, but each time, Darnell was there to push the ball to the outside and allow the defense to reset. In doing so, the sophomore kept the Falcons at bay, while one of those clearances led to the heroics from Tilley.
“We’ve been in this situation before. We know what it takes and we know what it takes to get there,” Coriell said. “It’s nice to be a senior and get to live to see another day.”
On the evening, Blevins had four saves for the Pirates while Porter had three saves for the Falcons.
While Minford’s season comes to an end, Wheelersburg advances to a Division III district final. The Pirates will meet with North Adams at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at Waverly.
Those two teams met earlier this season with the Green Devils winning a 2-1 decision.
“I knew we were going to make it,” Tilley said. “All season, yeah, we’ve struggled a little bit. But throughout the season, we’ve just progressively gotten better. It’s just about being a team. We have talks about that all the time. It’s not just one person. This team makes the [wins] happen.”
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