'We’ve worked so hard to get here': MND soccer beats Milford in OT to reach regional final
SHARONVILLE, Ohio – The Mount Notre Dame soccer team has only lost one game all year, but the Cougars have had trouble learning how to win.
The Cougars entered the postseason with more ties (eight) than wins (seven), but have now won four in a row after beating Milford in the Division I, Region 4 semifinals at Princeton.
Avery May’s header with 3:14 to go in the second overtime lifted MND to a 2-1 win over Milford. MND, now 11-1-8, will play league rival Seton, the reigning Division I state champion, in the regional final at 5 p.m. Saturday at Lakota East. Milford finishes 16-1-4.
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“It’s amazing,” May said. “We’ve worked so hard to get here, played really good teams. We stayed positive, composed, played our game. We did get off to a slow start this season but we peaked at the right time.”
Said MND head coach Kiersten Roof: ”The biggest thing we talked about all year was peaking at the right time. We had a lot of ties on the season. Learning to build from the experience, become more resilient, because everything we do is about the tournament.”
May scored the winning goal after junior Riley Marques earned the Cougars a corner kick by hitting a laser from long range that Milford keeper Kristen Burns deflected out of bounds.
The corner kick deflected to the head of MND senior Eden Tepe, who popped it high in the air to May behind her. May, MND’s leading scorer, had a lot of time to direct her shot to the far post and win it. It was her team-high 13th goal of the season.
“We knew from the wind it was going to go backwards,” May said. “It wasn’t going to go to the back post; it would be the front post. I just got middle, front post side of the goalie.”
How the goals were scored
After a scoreless first half, MND scored two minutes into the second half when junior Emma Hagarty scored from close range for only her second goal of the year.
Milford tied it when junior Whitney Sluder pounced on a loose ball and knocked it from about 18 yards, which was only her second of the year.
Defenses stepped up
The fact that the goalscorers in regulation only notched their second scores of the year spoke to how well the defense and keepers played during the game. Both keepers, Burns and MND senior Allie Lammers, made some tough saves and aggressively grabbed crossing passes.
MND shut out one of the city’s top scorers for the second-straight game. Milford senior Ana Manning had 25 goals on the year. Lammers made a tough save on a 25-yard laser from Manning in the first half. Moments before Sluder’s tying goal, Manning hit the crossbar on one shot, then missed the post by a foot moments later.
MND has freshman Bella Rogers and sophomore Olivia Trick leading the way in the back, and both of them had responsibility for shadowing Manning. Roof had placed them in those spots late in the season.
The Cougars had shut out Oak Hills and junior Presley Pennekamp (46 goals) in the district final.
“(Rogers and Trick) have done an absolutely phenomenal job,” Roof said. “Especially being a freshman and a sophomore, they have stepped up and acted like they’re seniors and been there the whole time.”
Senior salute
Manning graduates with 81 career goals. Peyton Smith had 17 goals and 12 assists this year and 31 career goals. Caitlin Evans is a four-year starter on defense.
Those three have started since their freshman year and gone 64-8-8 in a Milford uniform.
“They along with the other seniors will be definitely missed next year,” Milford head coach Jill Helms said. “The investment they put into the program has left a legacy, and it will be hard to match that moving forward. I told the girls to keep their heads high. Winning two district championships in a row, winning our conference three times in a row, having two undefeated seasons in three years. It’s quite an accomplishment. They have achieved more than most high school soccer players will ever achieve.”
Besides the keeper Burns, other seniors are Ashlyn Schaefer, Kelsey Fields, Julia Stansell, Marlee Scanlon and Grace Mangino.
Cluxton's hat trick spurs Seton past Centerville
The scoring came early and often for the Seton Saints against Centerville on Tuesday. Sophomore Olivia Hausfeld scored off a corner in the first 10 minutes of the game and senior Millie Cluxton got a penalty shot past the keeper with 25 minutes left in the first half to extend the Saints’ lead.
The Elks were able to get one back before halftime but when the teams returned for the second half it was all Seton.
Cluxton scored her second goal about halfway through the half and completed the hat trick with 13 minutes left in the game. The Saints locked it down after Cluxton’s third goal and won the game 4-1 to advance to the next round.
Kori Stewart contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 2023 Ohio high school girls soccer: MND advances to regional final
