BEREA —
Madison Central scored a quick goal, then added one late, as the Lady Indians beat county rival Madison Southern 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at Madison Southern High School.
Maryssa Stewart and Emily Willoughby scored goals for Central, which improves to 11-2-1 overall and earns the No. 1 seed for the district tournament with a perfect 3-0 record.
The Lady Indians have outscored district opponents 16-0.
It was the first loss of the season for Southern (10-1, 1-1) and snaps a 3-game winning streak against the Lady Indians.
Southern had only given up two goals in its last eight games and five all season.
“It’s a huge win,” Central coach Chris Dunham said. “I told them at the beginning of the game we had to go right at them. No backing down and you have to win everything. Getting a goal quick is always a big momentum builder. I think that carried is through the whole first half.”
Just over two minutes into the game, Central midfielder Kennedy Harden had the ball in the middle of the field.
She sent a pass down the left sideline to Willoughby, who raced to the corner and sent a cross into the box to Stewart, who knocked the shot home for a 1-0 lead.
“(Kennedy) tipped it over her head and I started running after it,” Willoughby said. “I saw Maryssa and I played a good ball and she finished it.”
With eight minutes to play until halftime, Southern’s Annie Ware sent a cross to Dakota Gadd, but her shot hit the crossbar, and the score remained 1-0 at halftime.
“I was pretty disappointed in our first half of play,” Southern coach Katy Cress said. “We didn’t play to our potential at all and they wore us out.”
The game went back and forth in the second half, with Southern making numerous charges and earning a handful of corner kicks, but the Lady Eagles couldn’t net the equalizer.
“The second half they came out really strong and they had a lot of opportunities,” Dunham said. “Luckily our defense held up.”
Cress said she was much happier with the way her team played in the second half.
“In the second half I thought we came out and played a lot tougher,” she said. “We were possessing the ball better and working through balls. We just couldn’t finish and find the back of the net and they could.”
With Southern applying constant pressure to try to tie the score, the Lady Indians responded with a fastbreak counter attack to put the game away.
With 2:54 to play, Harden sent a through ball to Willoughby, who went straight to the goal, scoring to make it 2-0.
“That was probably desperation at its finest,” Harden said of her assist. “I just kicked it up field and hoped someone would get it.”
Central goalkeeper Sam Shepherd earned her seventh shutout of the season.
The Lady Indians play at 6 p.m. Monday at home against Lincoln County.
Southern plays at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Berea Community. The game will be a preview of a district semifinal game, with Tuesday’s winner earning the No. 2 seed for the tournament and the loser the No. 3 seed.
Sports
GIRLS SOCCER: Central knocks off Southern, 2-0
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