It was another cool evening at Oldham County field for the District 15 Championship game which served as the second meeting of the year between cross county rivals South Oldham and Oldham County
Starting for the Lady Dragons in the game were Emily Cobb, Emily DeYoung, Lindsay Hagan, Stephanie Hay, Michelle Huber, Katie Moore, Amanda Nivens, Jennifer Sibert, Anna Simpson in goal, Jennifer Wilson, and Lauren Wilson.
The teams battled near midfield for the first three minutes fighting for control after which time the Lady Dragons started to dominate the field of play. Emily DeYoung fired the first shot on goal off a pass from Sibert at the 36:21 mark. The game proved to be another "physical" one as is often the case with the Lady Colonels with goalie Dupin taking the legs out from under Jennifer Wilson a minute later. Sister Lauren Wilson then passed to Stephanie Hay who fired a shot off the right post with 31:00 left in the half.
Katie Moore made her first appearance in several games after recovering from an injury and made her presence known when Marissa Larkin broke free at the 26:15 mark but was repelled by Moore. The Lady Dragons answered back with a nice shot by Lauren Wilson off a Sibert cross picked up by the goalie and tried again when Lauren headed a Sibert cross just wide left of the goal with about 25 minutes remaining in the half. Oldham County got their first shot on goal with a long looper from the right side easily handled by Anna Simpson with about 16 minutes on the clock.
SOHS had a number of good opportunites over the next 5 minutes as Sibert crossed to Cobb who passed to Andrea Schott who just missed. Stephanie Hay bounced one off the crossbar minutes later and had another shot picked up by the goalie with about 12 minutes left. Finally with 8:42 left in the half, Lauren Wilson crossed to the middle, which Emily Cobb picked up and "drilled" a "winner" past the helpless Dupin for a 1-0 lead and the only score of the half.
It was obvious from early on that OC's attempt to intimidate with their physical style of play was not working as South stepped up to the challenge as players like Jennifer & Lauren Wilson set the tone of the game for the Lady Dragons as far as hustle goes while Amanda Nivens, Katie Moore, and Michelle Huber provided defensive muscle when needed as did many of the SOHS team this night, especially in the second half.
OC struck early to start the final period with a shot on goal just 20 seconds in only to have it scooped up by Simpson. South got some breathing room when with 37:15 on the clock, Sibert curved a corner kick into the goal and off the side of an Colonel player & into the net for an "own-goal" and a 2-0 lead.
The third and final goal of the evening came when Sibert punched a looper towards the center that a charging Lauren Wilson tracked down to push by the OC goalie making it 3-0. The Lady Dragons continued to press offensively throughout as Cobb made a nice assist to Rabold who missed wide right with about 21 minutes left. At 15:18 Stephanie Hay crossed to Beth Morris who was taken out on the play getting one of the few fouls called on OC, but Hay's free kick went high. Ally Tucker teamed up with Morris to advance the ball to Shana Bertetto who's shot missed wide right at 5:00. With 3 minutes left Schott took a pass from Hay which was deflected for a South corner, but the corner was repelled by the Colonels. Megan Davis got the final shot on goal for the Dragons with under 2 minutes remaining but the goalie made the play.
The Lady Dragon defense continues to gel led by Anna Simpson in goal earning yet another shutout. Oldham County tried to advance the ball late with some long balls only to have their attempts "ERASED" as Lindsay Hagan put a "Return to Sender" foot on most of them. Nivens, Huber, & Moore were stoic in the back and the "Emilys" (Cobb & DeYoung)along with Claire Workinger controlled the middle.
South Oldham representatives on the District 15 All Tournament Team were Emily Cobb, Emily DeYoung, Beth Morris, and Jennifer Sibert.
