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Journal-News.com

Badin overwhelms Monroe

KETTERING — Badin High's girls soccer team came at Monroe in waves Monday night, and the Hornets didn't have nearly enough answers.

The top-ranked Rams, using their superior speed and athleticism, overpowered previously unbeaten Monroe 4-1 in the Division II district semifinals at Kettering Fairmont.

"We wanted to play the game at our pace because we're quicker, so we just came out and attacked and attacked and attacked," said Badin coach Keith Harring, whose squad improved to 11-2-4. "We were just running like crazy."

Tori Mathews, Kristina Anderson, Sammi Burton and Abby Milillo all tallied goals for the defending state champions, who will return to Fairmont Thursday for the showdown everybody's been expecting since the season began.

Top-seeded Badin faces No. 2 seed Kettering Alter — a 2-1 winner over Dayton Oakwood Monday — for a district championship at 7 p.m.

"This is the game," said Harring, whose Rams blanked the Knights 2-0 just over two weeks ago in Girls Greater Cincinnati League play. "We're healthy, and we'll be ready."

Badin outshot Monroe 20-4 and scored twice in the last 17:17 of the first half after the Hornets knotted the contest at 1-1.

Freshman Carley Williams scored for third-seeded Monroe, which finished 17-1-1.

"Badin is everything we thought they would be," Hornets coach Jennifer Burnside said. "They're fast. They're strong. They're very game smart. They were just hard to keep track of.

"I wouldn't change a thing about our season," she added. "This team was not about a bunch of individual stars. It was a team concept, and every girl played hard no matter what."

Mathews gave the Rams a 1-0 lead with 22:17 left in the first half. Megan Reimer sent the ball across the field to Erin Golden, who launched a shot at Monroe goalie Jessica Swift. She didn't handle the ball cleanly, and Mathews kicked in the rebound.

But the Hornets stormed right back and scored 21 seconds later. BHS goalie Jenny Rosen was caught out of position as Kaylynn Harrington fed the ball to Sandy Pettus, who centered a pass to Williams, who notched the goal.

Badin didn't panic. Indeed, the Rams didn't seem fazed at all.

"The goal was kind of a fluke," Mathews said. "We didn't think anything of it. We just kept playing our game."

Anderson and Burton converted long goals to make it 3-1 at the break. Milillo's score came with 24:02 left in the game.

Burton and Golden each had an assist for Badin. Rosen totaled two saves, while Swift had 15.

"We get mad and play harder when somebody scores on us," Harring said. "That's the attitude you have to have, and I saw that today."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2194 or rcassano@coxohio.com.