South Oldham wins the 2001 Region 8 Championship with a 1-0 victory over the Oldham County Lady Colonels at Anderson County High School. The weatherman cooperated just enough to get the entire game in as the rain came down just after the game ended, but mother nature still played a significant role in this fiercely fought contest this evening. It was a tale of two halves as SOHS controlled the game early only to have OC turn it into a "nail-biter" in the end.
The Dragons got a good start offensively, much like the last game against the Lady Colonels, and pretty much controlled the field of play from the beginning. Lauren Wilson passed to Sibert who missed wide to fire the first shot on goal just a minute and a half into the game.
South continued to win the midfield battles and made several advances into Colonel territory but found it difficult to catch up to the ball as they often overshot their passes because of the strong wind blowing toward the Oldham County goal. Goalie Christy Dupin picked up several rollers that sped past the Lady Dragon forwards and into the box. Sibert had long shots on goal at the 26:28 and 16:00 mark but the attempts were easily corralled by Dupin. Lauren Wilson had a nice shot at 16:53 on the clock missing wide right and Sibert sent a free-kick over the top with 14:10 left in the half.
The key play offensively came with 13:13 left in the first period when South was awarded a corner kick from the left side. Sibert tapped the ball to super soph Stephanie Hay who laid a perfect cross to Emily Cobb (Cobber!!) who pushed a "highlight reel" header past the goalie for a 1-0 lead.
SOHS was awarded another corner 5 minutes later, but Sibert misjudged and overshot the goal ending the threat. With 3 minutes left in the half the Dragons got a free-kick and Cobb put a perfect ball into scoring position but South couldn't finish and OC eventually cleared it. The last offensive threat by South Oldham came with 1:50 on the clock when the Wilson sisters connected, with Jennifer passing to Lauren for a strong shot that just missed wide right. The Colonels made few advances into Dragon territory in the period but did get the last shot on goal with under a minute left in the half which was collected by goalie Anna Simpson to make it 1-0 South Oldham at the break.
Although only up by a goal, SOHS had controlled the game to this point. Little did we know what a big factor the wind had played in that dominance. The second half would prove to be a totally different story as Oldham County's grit and determination combined with the help of the wind ,which was now at their backs, would repeatedly test the Lady Dragon defense the rest of the evening.
There were few offensive highlights for the Lady Dragons in the second period as the defense, led by Anna Simpson in goal, and midfielders scrambled to fight off repeated Oldham County advances. The Lady Colonels proved they were a force to be reckoned with as they came out and dominated the field of play from the kickoff.
OC struck first and often firing a dangerous looper to goalie Anna Simpson to start their attack. With 35:15 left, Marissa Larkin took a free-kick but missed high. Time after time it seemed the Dragons just were not in the right place at the right time as they couldn't advance the ball past midfield. Efforts to clear the ball were hindered by the strong wind and the Lady Colonel's hustle to loose balls.
Stephanie Hay and Lauren Wilson provided the few threats South had in the half as Hay nailed a free-kick caught by the always solid Dupin and had a corner stopped by the goalie as well. Stephanie also made a pretty cross to Lauren who missed a header attempt wide right with 24:50 left and Lauren missed high with another shot 30 seconds later.
Oldham County fired a bouncer that pulled the goalie out with 23:28 left creating a scramble for the ball out front which Lindsay Hagan cleared over the endline to quell the threat but which earned the Colonels their first in a series of corner kicks. South cleared the corner but OC got another 2 minutes later when Simpson who had a superb game, stretched to deflect another shot that went over the endline. This one was kicked out for yet another Colonel corner which this time was grabbed in the air by Simpson.
The defensive "play of the game" came with 20:11 left when OC fired a high shot to the center of the goal only to have Simpson perfectly time her jump and stretch up to pull it down with a verticle leap that would make Michael Jordan jealous.
The Lady Colonels continued to apply the pressure with a free-kick with 13:30 left and another corner they "headed" just high and left 30 seconds later. Another corner at 10:35 and at the 8:20 mark continued to test the Dragons, the latter finally cleared by Jennifer Wilson. Larkin received a cross but had her header miss wide left with 6:15 left and OC missed high with a shot with 4:54 on the clock. Yet another corner was headed wide left at 4:18 and a OC free-kick went over the top with 3:40 left.
After having scrambled the whole half to repel the OC attack, South managed to gain a little ground and ran the clock out for the win. There was little doubt that Anna Simpson's "spectacular saves" and her fellow defender's "never say die attitude" were the key to this victory. Oldham County proved they "belonged" in the title game with some of the most intense second half pressure offensively the Dragons have seen all year.
Hagan, Moore, and Nivens fought hard defensively to perserve the shutout while Michelle Huber had a strong game up top in the second half. Shana Bertetto, Beth Morris, Andrea Schott, and Ally Tucker provided much needed support offensively while Claire Workinger and Missy Rabold played valuable minutes as well. Emily Cobb, Stephanie Hay, Jennifer Sibert and Anna Simpson represented the Dragons on the Region 8 All Tournament team.
