'These seniors are just great': Ashland girls soccer beats Mt. Vernon on senior night

ASHLAND — Ashland’s trio of seniors made sure that senior night would be a memorable one for all involved and behind the play of seniors Ella Argo and Claire Plank, the Arrows slipped by Mount Vernon, 2-0.

On a wet, soggy evening, goals would be hard to come by and the duo left their mark early in the contest.

Plank’s pinpoint pass to Argo would lead to a goal that tucked just inside the right post at the 36:07 mark of the first half and a 1-0 Ashland lead.

“That was the one thing I had told them before the game,” said Ashland coach Lee Hunt on the wet conditions. “I told them the ball is going to skip, it is not going to bounce like it normally does. And at halftime I told them my biggest concern in this game right now is a ball skipping by and that we are out of position because we expected a person to get a touch on the ball and it leads to a goal.

“But they all did a good job of keeping the ball in front of them.”

Argo’s goal was the only scoring in the initial 40 minutes, as the Yellow Jackets stiffened up defensively with Mount Vernon’s keeper Quinn Hardy knocking away six of Ashland’s nine scoring opportunities.

“We just wanted to make solid contact with it and not try to do anything spectacular,” said Hunt. “And they all did very well with that out there tonight.”

With the game scoreless for nearly 56 minutes of action, Plank nearly gave Ashland some breathing room at the 20:40 mark of the second half, but her shot from 20 yards out hit the crossbar, keeping it a 1-0 game.

“It definitely was a good environment out here tonight and I think we all wanted to win pretty bad and those two goals really helped keep us motivated,” said Plank. “On that miss, I saw an opportunity and headed to the gap. Whenever I get in there I just think about shooting the ball and hope for the best.”

Plank said the second goal was big for the entire team.

“It was big,” she said on her goal (18:41) that finally gave the Arrows some much needed breathing room. “I was struggling to get the ball into the back of the net, but when I finally did, I think that really helped us get through to the end and secure the win.

“There is only three of us this year,” she said about teammates Argo and Kelcee Leary. “We are a close knit group and we all support each other.”

Leary had a fine game helping Ashland control the tempo and defensively, was a huge factor in the shutout.

“Once Claire scores she loosens up,” said Hunt. “And then she becomes very, very fun to watch.”

“Ashland has a great team,” said Mount Vernon coach Bill Lonsinger. “Their record (4-10-2) doesn’t show it, partly on the strength of their schedule. I’ve coached soccer for 25 years so when I see a parochial school in Toledo and add Anthony Wayne or Ontario, that is a tough schedule, and we knew we had to work really hard.”

“At times I thought we had some opportunities, but we just missed the pass before the goal and that is where we were tonight. We are young and we will learn and go from there. But I am happy with the effort we gave.”

Lonsinger talked about the work of Hardy who registered nine save on the night.

“She’s only a junior and Quinn is awesome. She saves us a lot of goals with her efforts.”

Now in his fourth year with Ashland, this is Hunt’s first four-year class through his program.

“This is the first class I’ve had for four years,” he said. “These girls are very special to me. They have done a tremendous amount of work leading the underclassmen. Leading by example and showing them what it takes to play at this level and we do play at a high level here.

“They are very good leaders on and off the field. These seniors are just great.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Girls Soccer: Ashland beats Mt. Vernon on senior night