John Glenn season ends in OHSAA D-II regional semifinals

COSHOCTON − A huge momentum swing to end the first half proved to be the difference with West Holmes picking up steam en route to a 4-2 victory over John Glenn in Tuesday's Division II regional semifinal matchup at Stewart Field.

John Glenn held a slim 1-0 lead with time winding out in the first half, as the Lady Muskies defense had held the high-scoring Lady Knights off the scoreboard with a nearly flawless first-half performance.

Well make that 39:31 of shutout defense, because with just 29 seconds left in the opening half, West Holmes grabbed 'Mo' with a huge goal from freshman Charlie Murphy to deadlock the game at 1-1 heading to the locker room at halftime.

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John Glenn sophomore Faith Lemon knocked away the initial West Holmes shot by Averee Troyer with a diving save, but Murphy followed up by knocking in the rebound for a huge momentum shift.

"That was a big momentum swing, it was really big and you hate to give up a goal in the last minute like that," John Glenn head coach Clay Wilkins said. "We were really playing well defensively, and taking a 1-0 lead into halftime would have been huge for us.

"Faith came up with a nice clean save on that first shot," Wilkins added. "But they were able to punch it in before we could clear the ball out of there. Those things happen, but it was just really unfortunate. It was a key point in the match for sure, got them started offensively."

Hats off to John Glenn's defensive effort

Making the Lady Muskies' defensive effort even more impressive was top-seeded West Holmes entered the night with a 10-game winning streak, picking up lopsided tournament wins by scores of 8-0 (Indian Creek), 8-0 (Philo) and Zanesville (7-0).

"We knew full well how explosive they can be offensively," Wilkins said. "I think we had them back on their heels for a large portion of that first half. We wanted to jump out on them and were able to with Riley getting that first goal. But they were able to regroup and get that goal in there just before the first half ended."

John Glenn's high-scoring junior Riley Zamensky had given the Lady Muskies that early 1-0 lead, taking an assist from Estelle Matheney to open the scoring at the 18:38 mark of the first half.

West Holmes carries momentum into second half

"We expected them to come out attacking in the second half," Wilkins said. "And they did, and we had a couple defensive breakdowns that hurt us. And like a good team will do, they took advantage of those opportunities."

Murphy then reeled off three unanswered goals to put the Lady Knights up by a 4-1 margin with 20:06 left in the game.

"Speed kills, and the Murphy girl had plenty of that," Wilkins said. "She was very quick with the ball and made it tough to keep up with her. I was impressed with her, and give her credit she came up with a really strong performance."

West Holmes had game plan for Lady Muskies' Zamensky

Coming into the night, West Holmes was well aware of Zamensky's skill set and had a game plan to slow her down in place.

"We knew Zamensky was a talented scorer, so we assigned Kali Woods to mark her, we had to watch out for her speed," West Holmes coach Schuyler Snyder said. "But having the quick transition to attack after we'd take it from her was key, catching her off guard, mostly. But she still got a couple, she's a very nice player."

Zamensky added a second goal to close out the scoring on the night, with Kira Kaiser collecting the helper for the final score of 4-2. Zamensky's two-goal night ran her season goals total to an impressive 32.

Lemon finished with six saves off 10 West Holmes shots, while Lady Knights' goalkeeper Brianna Parks collected one save off three Lady Muskies' shots.

Outlook bright for next season for Lady Muskies

John Glenn ended the season with a solid 15-5-1 record, and Wilkins was already looking forward to next season, and with Zamensky back for her senior year, along with a large group of returning players, the future looks bright indeed.

"We return a large chunk of this group next year, including Riley," Wilkins said. "So expectations going into next year are very high. I feel strongly we can be back in this position at the regionals again next year. Have a good feeling after solid year this season.

"We were able to put together some positive work this year," Wilkin added. "We were able to get back to the regionals, and I like our chances to get back here again next year. Hopefully take it a bit further next season. Proud of my girls, give them a little time off now. Then we will start work building for next year. And I know myself, I'm already looking forward to getting to work."

KSutton1@gannett.com; Twitter: @KSuttonDJSports; Instagram: kevinsutton_dailyjeffsports

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Successful John Glenn season ends with loss in Division II regional semifinals to strong West Holmes squad