Journal-News.com

HAMILTON — The Badin High School girls soccer team has won three consecutive Division II regional championships and played in three straight state championship games.

The Rams are 26-2 in tournament play during those three years, including 15-0 in regional games.

Yet coach Keith Harring considers his team to be the underdog as it heads into tonight's Nov. 1, regional final at Princeton against Madeira.

Make that unbeaten and No. 1 in the state Madeira.

"We're not the ones who are supposed to win, they are," Harring said of the Mustangs. "They're No. 1 in the state. We're not even ranked in the state. We have nothing to lose. We're just playing and having fun."

The Rams have gone 8-1-1 in their last 10 games to up their record to 12-5-4, and they represent the "1" on Madeira's sparkling 19-0-1 record. The two teams battled to a 0-0 tie on Aug. 26, which was just Badin's third game of the year.

"Sure I think that helps us," said Harring, whose Rams ended the Mustangs' 2007 season with a victory in the state semifinals.

"They came into that (Aug. 26) game really up for us after we had beaten them last year, and we played head to head with them," Harring continued. "And we were basically still finding ourselves then. We're a new team now."

The young Rams won just one of their first six games, but they have been on a roll in the tournament.

Madeira has been on a roll all year, allowing just eight total goals.

"Their goalie (Mary Hyde) has a bunch of shutouts (13), but that's because their defense doesn't let anyone get to her," Harring said. "We need to make sure we attack the defense the way we've been doing the last five games. If we attack offensively that way, we'll be fine."

Offensively, the Mustangs are led by Alexis Carter, a striker with 22 goals whom Harring said likely will be the Ohio Player of the Year in the Division II, and Katie Landgrebe, who has 18 goals.

"They have some tremendous talent," Harring said. "We don't have the glamour players like Madeira does. We're just getting it done as a team."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.