Centerville girls soccer edges Wayne, advances to D-I state semifinals

Elks avenge their only loss of the season with 2 goals late in the match.

Columbus Bound: Madison girls advance to final four
3:25 a.m.
Wayne falls to St. X, Colerain defeats Northmont
3/14/10
Layup gives Fairmont girls first regional title
3/14/10
Area prep stars garner All-Ohio bowling honors
3/13/10
Third quarter dooms Fairmont boys in district final
3/13/10
> More high school headlines

By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer 11:15 PM Saturday, November 7, 2009

BELLBROOK — Before the match, Centerville High School soccer captain Allison Ludwig reminded coach Don Skelton about the Elks’ recent postseason resume.

Two years ago, Centerville lost in a regional semifinal. Last season ended in a regional final.

“Each year, these seniors have progressed a little bit more,” Skelton said.

Centerville continued its season by scoring two goals in the final 7:35 to rally for a 2-1 Division I regional final victory against Wayne on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Bellbrook High School. The Elks (20-1-1) both avenged their only loss of the season and advanced to their first state semifinal since 1998.

Now, the focus will be on returning to the state final, in which the Elks have appeared four times, most recently in 1994. All four previous trips, though, ended in losses.

But the current Elks team, in proving with its late rally, has resiliency, Ludwig said.

“That just showed that we never give up,” Ludwig said. “This is probably the closest team I’ve ever been on.”

Wayne (20-2) took a 1-0 lead with 3:04 left in the first half on a goal by Nichole Stewart that tailed from left to right and stayed just inside the right side of the net.

The Warriors held that lead until 7:35 remained in the game, when Centerville’s Claire Falknor took the Wayne keeper away from the goal while handling the ball and passed into the middle to teammate Kacie Kumar, who scored into the unattended net.

Shortly after, with about 2:45 left, Lisa Nouanesengsy shot a ball that the Centerville keeper hit and struggled to collect. Wayne players pleaded that the ball was a goal, but it stood as no score.

About a minute later, Centerville set the final margin on a goal from Delaney Thompson with 1:43 left. Elks junior Fallon Vaughan sent a pass into Thompson on the right side of the goal, and Thompson headed it through.

With that, the Elks avenged both their regular season loss and regular season tie (against Beavercreek, which Centerville beat earlier in the tournament).

“It’s a lot of pressure, because they beat us earlier,” Ludwig said. “But it’s a big boost if you win.”

Contact this reporter

at (937) 225-7389 or

knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Share this article

ADD COMMENT

Comments feed

Congratulations girls! this was such a huge win for you and I wish i could have been there!! If you make it to state finals, i'll come home to watch that one! good luck!!!!

Erin
12:50 PM, 11/8/2009

REPORT ABUSE

We welcome your comments. Please remember this is a public forum and behave appropriately. Your comments must conform to our visitor's agreement.