John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — Following a scoreless first 40 minutes, the Chillicothe Cavaliers dialed up a familiar connection to begin the second half on Wednesday evening.
However, by reversing the participants, the Cavaliers (11-4-2) caught Warren off-guard, leading to their opening score at the 38:48 mark in the second half before, ultimately, earning a hard-fought victory to open OHSAA tournament play — the program’s first postseason win since the 2020 season.
Typically, the high scoring connection for the Cavaliers goes Alex Erslan to Kiera Archer for the score. Archer, with over 100 career goals, was drawing additional attention throughout the first half.
But, by sharing the ball with her fellow all-league midfielder in Erslan, it gave the Cavaliers the boost they needed to propel them to victory.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
To begin the play, Archer took the ball down the right sideline, outpacing her defender enough to make a perfect cross into the middle of the box. Erslan came streaking down the center of the box and crushed a strike into the back of the net from 10 yards out to take a massive lead over the game Warriors.
“It was definitely so exciting,” Erslan said. “[Archer] gave me a big hug afterwards. She just got into some space at the bottom of the box and I could see that she could get a ball to me. So I just made a run to the front post and she timed it up really well. We were able to connect.”
Just over 10 minutes later, the duo connected again, but this time with the order flipped. Erslan sent a long ball forward to Archer, who beat all of the defenders and the goalkeeper to the ball, before tapping it away from the keeper. Once free, Archer cooly slotted the ball into the net for her 44th tally of the season.
As noted, following a quiet first half, action picked up in a big way in the second half.
Chillicothe’s Elaina Crall only saw one shot on target in the first 40 minutes, but saw that number jump in a major way. Crall had four saves in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, including an outstanding diving save in a one-on-one situation.
“It’s really important to have people you can trust and constantly have your back,” Crall said. “It just lets you know that if you make a mistake, then you’re always going to have people there for you to back you up.”
However, all of the pressure from the Warriors (8-8-1) eventually led to their first tally of the night with 21:24 to play. After a cross from the right wing, Warren’s Emma Gorrell was able to just beat Crall to the ball, touching it into the back of the net to pull a little momentum back.
That would be the best chance the Warriors would get, though, as the defensive trio of Addy Mendel, Chloe Beatty and Ella Strauch contained any attacks that Warren could muster together.
With the defense holding tight, the Cavaliers looked to attack through the midfield again, with Erslan, Petiah Martin, Alyssa Dudley, Tiana Wingo and Kaylee Poole helping provide balls forward to Archer while controlling possession.
“It’s great. I can be really versatile in the middle,” Erslan said. “It’s definitely hard to run up and down when it’s like that but you want to be good on both sides. It allows us to create a lot of different things with it.”
The final nail in the coffin wouldn’t come in the run of play as a Warrior was whistled for a foul about 35 yards away from the goal.
On the free kick, Mendel played a low ball in towards the middle of the box, which Archer won and finished with just 6:58 to play, pushing the lead to 3-1.
“I know, even after the game, [Mendel] was like, ‘That pass angle [wasn’t] great.’ But I think it was the best pass that could’ve happened,” Archer said. “It worked out perfectly and just connecting with a defender like that, it’s just really good.”
Warren continued to push towards the Cavalier goal as it looked to get closer in the final moments, but it was not to be. Chillicothe stood strong to advance to next week’s district semifinals.
“Honestly, it feels amazing because this is the first time in four years that we’ve actually made it to the next round,” Archer said. “So we’re just so excited. We’re excited that all the goals happened, excited about everything. All the fans in the crowd … It was really amazing.”
Archer led the Cavaliers with two goals and an assist while Erslan added a goal and an assist. Mendel also added an assist and Crall finished the night with 11 saves.
The Cavaliers will now face Athens at Logan’s Chieftain Stadium on Wednesday in a Division III district semifinal. Athens defeated Miami Trace, 1-0, to advance.
“It’s the best feeling ever,” Archer said. “Usually, after this game, it’s really sad. But now, we actually get to go to practice and we have a whole entire week until we get to our next game.”
Scoring Summary
1st Half: No score
2nd Half:
38:48 (Chillicothe) Alex Erslan (Kiera Archer) 1-0 C
28:00 (Chillicothe) Archer (Erslan) 2-0 C
21:24 (Warren) Emma Gorrell 2-1 C
6:58 (Chillicothe) Archer (Addy Mendel) 3-1 C
Statbook
Shots: Chillicothe 14, Warren 14
Saves: Chillicothe 11, Warren 7
Fouls: Chillicothe 3, Warren 13
Offsides: Chillicothe 1, Warren 0
Corners: Chillicothe 2, Warren 1
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