Badin unable to corral Cowboys’ shot in soccer loss

Photos: Regional: Badin vs. Wyoming

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Pat Auckerman/Badin vs. Wyoming during a Division II regional semifinal soccer match at Centerville High School on Wednesday Nov. 4, 2009

Schlager’s score from 35 yards out the difference as Wyoming pulls out 1-0 win over Rams.

By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer Updated 8:43 AM Thursday, November 5, 2009

CENTERVILLE — Caitlin Shafor’s best save of the night ended up giving Wyoming High School its best chance to score, and the Cowboys converted it.

With a little more than 4 minutes left in a Division II regional semifinal match at Centerville High School, Badin’s senior goalkeeper came sprinting off her mark to try to prevent Wyoming sophomore Michelle Jolson from getting an easy breakaway attempt.

The two girls arrived at the ball at the same time in a collision that left both of them lying on the turf in pain while the ball bounced back toward midfield. Wyoming sophomore Hailee Schlager corralled the loose ball and sent it into the net from 35 yards out with 4:13 remaining to lift the Cowboys to a 1-0 victory.

“I kind of blacked out for a second after we collided, but when I looked up I saw Hailee right there and watched her finish it and it was awesome,” Jolson said.

“I saw Michelle go down and no one was in the middle, so I just decided to hustle to it,” added Schlager. “I tried to keep my composure as much as possible and just shoot it toward the goal.”

The win moves Wyoming (18-0-2) into the regional championship game at noon Saturday at Princeton against Madeira, while Badin ends its season 11-5-4.

“Tough way to lose,” Rams coach Keith Harring said. “It was just a fluky play. Caitlin came out and made the play, and we tried to fill in behind, but we just couldn’t knock it down.”

For Badin, it was a disappointing ending to an impressive performance against the No. 2-ranked team in the state. The Rams controlled play for the majority of the game and outshot the Cowboys 17-9.

Badin had three great chances with possession of the ball less than 15 yards away from the goal, but two of the shots went wide and another one, off the foot of Allie Crossley with 7 minutes to go, was snared by a leaping Alexa Levick, the Wyoming goalkeeper and a Vanderbilt recruit.

Levick finished with nine saves, while Shafor had six.

“I think that’s probably the toughest game they’ve had all year,” Harring said of the Cowboys. “I told our girls they have to be proud of what they’ve done. How many teams can say they made the final 16 six years in a row?

“Sometimes you have to learn from losses in life,” Harring continued. “It’s tough for the kids to understand that right now, but every one of them I put out there gave everything they had and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

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