Senior Selby Smith was fouled from about 30 yards away from the Alter goal with 9:06 left in the contest.
Smith’s free kick from the left side arched into a pile of players. Her best buddy, Sydney Neal, leapt through the air and headed the ball in for a 2-0 lead.
“I wish I could take credit for that play, but it was all them,” Fenwick coach Tom McEwan said of the score. “I don’t know if they work on that play on their own, but it was sure nice to see.”
As it turned out, Fenwick needed the insurance goal. With just under two minutes left to play, Alter senior forward Abby Riazzi scored off an assist by sophomore forward Erica Firsdon to pull the Knights (6-4-1, 2-3-0) within a goal.
Alter co-captain Brittney Dietz was issued a yellow card with just nine seconds left to play, but neither team mustered a scoring try the rest of match.
Neal said she knew how important a two-goal margin over Alter could be for the Falcons.
“Shelby put up a nice shot and I just went for it,” she said. “This was a well-fought battle between two good teams, and I knew we needed that second goal. I just gave it all I had to score.”
Alter is ranked fourth and Fenwick is 10th in the latest Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association Division II state poll.
“This win means a lot to us,” Smith said. “I think this should get the team’s confidence up for sure,” Smith said.
Alter coach Corrie Weckesser expects her team to learn from the loss.
“This was a hard-fought battle tonight. We’ve still got to fix some things, but if we can hang with a solid team like Fenwick, we’re doing some things right,” she said.
Several members of Fenwick’s 2008 Division II state championship girls soccer team watched the first half from the pressbox roof.
Up next for Fenwick is Carroll, for what could decide the GGCL Grey North division. The Patriots are 5-0-0 in league play.
Those two teams will play at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday at Fenwick.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.
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