Shawnee’s Addison DuGranrut clears the ball during Tuesday night’s Division II regional semifinal against Mansfield Madison Comprehensive in Tiffin.
Nate Reynolds | The Lima News
TIFFIN — The Shawnee girls’ soccer team has been tested this postseason.
And each time, Shawnee came out on top.
Shawnee came into Tuesday night’s Division II regional semifinal against Mansfield Madison Comprehensive, realizing it would once again be tested.
Madison Comprehensive did just that.
The Rams kept Shawnee in check at both ends of the field.
Defensively, Madison Comprehensive prevented Shawnee from taking a clean shot on goal for the full 80 minutes. At the other end, Madison Comprehensive fired nine shots on goal.
The result was a 3-0 victory for Madison Comprehensive over Shawnee on a cold, snowy night at Frost-Kalnow Stadium.
With the win, Madison Comprehensive (13-4-4) will face Rocky River, an 8-0 winner against Maumee, at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Bowling Green High School for the regional championship.
Shawnee ends its season 9-5-6.
“We were really trying to hone in on No. 30, Nevaeh Lewis. She now has 26 goals on the season,” Shawnee head coach Caroline O’Brien said. “It just seemed like we couldn’t quite connect through the midfield as much as we have been. … That has been bringing us success, lately.
“But the kids fought. They played hard. I thought we possessed the ball well for several parts of the game. But we just couldn’t connect in the attacking third to put a quality shot on goal.”
Lewis got her team on the scoreboard at the 25:48 mark of the first half on a shot near the goal. Lewis got one more shot off in the first half. However, Shawnee goalkeeper Chloe Nance made the save on Lewis’ second shot. Nance recorded six saves on the night.
In the first half, Madison Comprehensive took seven shots on goal.
Madison Comprehensive recorded its other two goals in the first half.
At the 6:38 mark, Jada Neal booted a shot just inside the 18-yard box, that found its way to the back of the net, pushing the Madison Comprehensive lead to 2-0.
Then, with 1:17 left in the half, Neal drove another long-range shot that got past Nance.
For the contest, Madison Comprehensive took three corner kicks. Shawnee did not attempt a corner kick.
O’Brien reflected on her team’s postseason run.
“With us being the No. 7 seed, coming out of that tough district – I think the Western Buckeye League is a very tough district,” O’Brien said. “Then you throw Liberty-Benton and Bryan in the mix. We had six ties in the season to some of those teams. So, for us to come back and defeat those quality teams in the tournament, and to get to this level – we’re just super proud of them. Early on, I didn’t think we would be here. But I’m just so proud how the kids responded and played the last three weeks. … We really started to gel. It’s just unfortunate that we fell tonight to an excellent Madison squad.”
Match Summary
SOG: Madison 9; Shawnee 0
Goals: Jada Neal 2, Navaeh Lewis 1
Assist: Lewis
Corner kicks: Madison 3; Shawnee 0
Records: Shawnee 9-5-6; Madison Comprehensive 13-4-4
Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
