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Alter girls soccer falls behind early, loses in state semifinal

Alter on losing end of DeSales’ eighth consecutive shutout.

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By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer 12:38 AM Thursday, November 10, 2011

HILLIARD — Facing a team that was riding seven straight shutout victories, the Alter High School girls soccer team fell behind early, and it couldn’t recover.

Columbus St. Francis DeSales connected on a goal in the 14th minute and held off Alter’s attack to beat the Knights 2-0 in a Division II state semifinal on Wednesday at Hilliard Bradley High School.

It was Alter’s first loss in 14 games, and the Knights (15-4-3), ranked No. 4 in the state, came a game short of advancing to the fourth state final in school history.

“We came out flat, and that first goal changed everything,” said Alter coach Javier Iriart. “That kind of jolted us, and we went on the attack, but they were solid all game.”

DeSales (17-4-2), ranked No. 7 in the state, opened the scoring when senior Megan McCabe sent a feed toward the middle that senior Alex Elliott directed toward the net. The ball hit the crossbar, came down and scooted over the line for a goal with 26:47 left in the first half.

Midway through the second half, McCabe shot from about 20 yards on the left side, and the ball went over the goalkeeper on the right side of the net for a 2-0 lead with 25:45 left in the game. (It was just the second time this season Alter allowed two goals. After losing 2-1 to Centerville in the season’s fourth game, the Knights had allowed seven goals in the next 17 games.)

The goal was McCabe’s sixth in the previous three games as DeSales advanced to the state final for the fourth time in school history.

The Knights earned their first regional championship since 2001 with consecutive overtime tournament victories, but cold and wind on Wednesday night made conditions difficult for both teams. Alter went scoreless for the fourth time this season.

The Knights should have plenty of experience returning next season. They had seven seniors on their 22-player postseason roster, and four of their top seven points producers were non-seniors. Both goalkeepers, including Wednesday’s starter Lauren Ashurst, are freshmen.

Avalee Hagerty, a sophomore, led Alter in goals and points and was the only sophomore on the All-Girls’ Greater Cincinnati League Grey North Division first team.

“I’m happy our younger kids could gain some experience, and I’m also happy they could learn from such great seniors,” Iriart said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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