Elida’s Lexie Good kicks the ball away during Tuesday night’s Division II sectional final at Elida.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
The Shawnee Indians has had an up and down year this season since the Indians lost on their home pitch to Elida in the Division II sectional final last season 4-2.
Back in August, the Indians wanted revenge, but finished their match with the Bulldogs tied 1-1. Many of their matches on the season would end in a tie. However, the number seven seeded Indians arrived in Elida on Tuesday night ready for their second attempt at revenge against the fourth seed in a sectional final, claiming a 7-2 victory.
The match started off with Shawnee on the attack early and often. The Indians converted with an early goal from junior Tayma Jmiai off the pass from senior Adelay Stover to put Shawnee ahead 1-0.
However, the Bulldogs were not going to let up that early. Senior Bulldog Lexi Good came back with athe first goal for Elida, one of her two on the night off senior Jojo Knight’s assist.
Shawnee was on the attack again. The Indians were methodical and patient going down the pitch, keeping the ball away from the Bulldogs as much as possible. This led to a second goal on the night fas junior Megan Carder found junior Kamryn Morris to hit a dagger to the back of the net from the left side. Shawnee led 2-1 halfway through the first half.
A few minutes later, Shawnee junior Cameron Ridenour stole the ball in Bulldogs territory and passed it to Stover. She took a shot from 20 feet out and the ball hit the top of the crossbar, bouncing down to the ground, then across the goal line for the Indians’ third goal of the first half with 15 minutes left in the first half.
At the nine-minute mark, sophomore Ella Moritz connected after she beat senior goalkeeper Leah Ramirez for the Indians fourth goal of the night.
On the other end, Indian senior goalkeeper Chloe Nance stopped almost everything that went her way as she finished with eight saves on the night.
In the second half, the Indians picked up where they left off. At the 37-minute mark, Kamryn Morris made her second goal of the night to give the Indians a 5-1 lead and they didn’t let up from there.
At the 34-minute mark, Shawnee’s aggressive defense turned into a fast-scoring offense, as junior Cameron Ridenour got the ball in front of the net off the steal to hit the back of the net and give the Indians a 6-1 lead.
The Indians offense continued to fire on all cylinders halfway through the second half. At the 18-minute mark, Ella Moritz grabbed the rebound off the miss and put the ball back in on the second chance shot to give the Indians a 7-1 lead.
The Bulldogs scored another goal at the nine-minute mark as Lexi Good put in her second goal of the night to complete the scoring.
Shawnee head coach Caroline O’Brien was happy to leave Elida with a win this time.
“It’s just a great feeling to come back and beat Elida on their home field,” O’Brien said. “It was a great battle last time, it’s always a great battle when we come to play them, and it stung a little when they beat us on home turf last year in this same game, so the kids were ready, they were focused, they came out hard. We’ve been struggling to finish games with all our ties on the season, but they’ve really found a way to get to the back of the net tonight. I am so proud of them. They executed the game plan so well. I have to give a lot of props to Elida, because they just kept coming. Jojo has had a great career here at Elida, and I know she will continue to do great things at the next level … it’s always a great crosstown rival and it’s hard to play them so early in the season then in tournament, but it feels like a great win. I just want to give them credit on a great season and especially for their seniors.”
O’Brien is proud that her team performed well on all sides of the ball and knows that this kind of team effort can help propel them to a district championship or further, but she is going to take it one day at a time. “All the kids really executed well and I’m so proud of them … At this point, you need to peak at the right time, and I think this is a good time for us. We had everybody just combine well tonight, and we worked well all the way back from goalkeeper senior Chloe Nance to our defensive line, to our midfield, to our forwards, everyone connected really well and that what it’s going to take to keep moving on and advancing one game at a time.”
The 7-4-6 Shawnee Indians advance to the Division II district semifinals to play the winner of No. 2 seed St. Marys and No. 3 seed Bryan.
Elida finished its season with a 11-4-2 record.
Match summary
Shawnee
Goals: Kamryn Morris 2, Ella Moritz 2, Adelay Stover 1, Tayma Jmiai 1, Cameron Ridenour 1
Assists: Megan Carder 2 Adelay Stover 1, Chloe Cleaves 1, Tayma Jmiai 1, Cameron Ridenour 1, Ella Moritz 1, Addison Neth 1
Elida
Goals: Lexi Good 2
Assists: Jojo Knight 1
Shots: Shawnee: 15, Elida: 13
Saves: Chloe Nance (Shawnee) 8; Leah Ramirez (Elida) 6
Justin Dierkes wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
