Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth
WHEELERSBURG — It didn’t take long for Minford to let Wheelersburg know it was in for a long night on Thursday.
Seemingly, before the Pirates had blinked, the Falcons had already found the back of the net three times.
The early river of momentum never stopped flowing in a dominant 11-1 win over Wheelersburg, a victory that allowed Minford (14-2) to claim an outright Southern Ohio Conference title.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“Wheelersburg is an excellent team and this outcome is an exception to the usual streetfight we have,” Minford coach Shane Tieman said. “Winning the first game [over Wheelersburg]] was key and I told the girls that all the pressure was on [Wheelersburg]. We knew that we didn’t have any anxiety coming in. We already had at least a share of the SOC, so we just needed to play our brand. Tonight, we let the anxiety go and just played our game. That was the key.”
The 11 scores pushed Minford past the century mark and to 110 goals this season. The Falcons’ offense will go into the postseason averaging 6.9 goals per contest.
But what’s overshadowed by those numbers is the team’s defensive play. In 16 games, Tieman’s girls have surrendered just 13 goals — six of which came in one of the team’s two losses.
“One of the keys to our offense is that our defense is fantastic,” Tieman said. “We have nine shutouts this year and we held Wheelersburg to one goal in two games. This is a great ‘Burg team and that’s saying something. So our defense has stayed solid all year. They’re playing as a unit and they’re just doing a phenomenal job. I can’t say enough about them.”
Minford came out loose and scored just 51 seconds into the game’s action when Marley Rhodes beat the keeper for a 1-0 count. Then, with 24:27 left in the first half, senior Maggie Risner scored her first goal of the night off an assist from Makenna Enz.
PHOTOS: Images from Minford’s win over Wheelersburg
56 seconds later, senior Ava Cronin scored for a 3-0 count and senior Lexi Conkel followed suit, thanks to an assist from Risner, at the 20:59 mark. Conkel ended the first half scoring with a second goal, off an assist from Lexi Pendleton, with 10:56 remaining, pushing the lead to 5-0 at the break.
“We try to schedule some tough teams. That’s why we went to Kentucky and played Boyd County and that’s why we went to Marietta,” Tieman said. “We want to be challenged. If it doesn’t challenge you, you can’t build anything. This group of girls have been really good in the past and it’s led by the seniors. But our schedule has helped us build to this point.”
Wheelersburg (14-2) finally lit up the scoreboard with 38:10 to go in the second half, thanks to a goal from Ella Hochstetler. But Minford provided an answer just four minutes later when Aubrey McGuire joined the party, thanks to a feed from Claire Clevenger for a 6-1 tally.
The Falcons then continued to keep both feet on gas pedals with five additional scores.
Risner scored on a PK and on an assist from Cronin, and Conkel scored thrice more — goals coming at the 15:22, 6:53 and 1:34 marks — to round out the night’s final.
Conkel scored a total of five goals — marking 142 for her career total — while Risner scored three times. McGuire, Rhodes and Cronin also each had a goal.
The win improves the Falcons’ senior class’ overall record to 52-16-3 and marks their second SOC championship.
“It’s one of the best senior classes ever, but we talk about legacy a lot,” Tieman said. “The seniors that came before this class have helped them build to what they are now. They’re in turn helping build the underclassmen up. It all starts at the lower levels, before I ever see them. We have a great youth program and it helps a ton once they get to high school. It’s a big key.”
Both teams will now look towards tournament play.
While the Falcons look to continue and cross off goals with a date against either Westfall and Ironton in a Division V district semifinal on Oct. 21, the Pirates will meet with either Rock Hill or Gallia Academy in a Division IV district quarterfinal on Oct. 16.
“Win our last game. That’s our goal,” Tieman said. “Ideally, we want to get to the regional tournament. We want to focus on one game at a time to get there, though. We can’t lose that focus and we have to keep our composure. But if we get to regionals, it’s why not us at that point. But we have to earn it. We have to work for it.”
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