Xenia ends season for Ross
By Jay Morrison
Staff Writer
CENTERVILLE — The first-ever soccer game played on Centerville Stadium's new artificial surface also was the last-ever game played by the Ross High seniors.
Second-seeded Xenia needed less than five minutes to grab a lead on the No. 10 Rams, and the Buccaneers just kept piling on after that on the way to a 6-0 victory Monday night in a Division I district semifinal game.
With the win, Xenia advances to Thursday's 5:30 p.m. district final at Northmont against Centerville, which beat Wayne 1-0 Monday evening.
"They're right up at the top with the best teams we've played," Ross coach Fred Hibbs said of the Buccaneers. "They're a good team, and they just overwhelmed us. We had no answers for them. It was as simple as that."
The Buccaneers (13-2-4) built a quick 1-0 lead when Katie Davies settled a loose ball about 30 yards in front of the goal and let loose with a cannon shot that found the upper left corner of the goal.
"She's scored a few goals this year, and all of them have been that way, from a long way out," Xenia coach Jim Lamb said. "She's primarily a defensive midfielder, but she has the green light to go up there whenever she wants."
The quicker artificial surfaced suited the speedier Buccaneers perfectly, and they took full advantage by controlling the action for almost the entire first half.
Davies added her second goal on a free kick just 9 yards in front of the goal. The initial shot slammed into the Ross wall of defenders, but the ball bounced right back to Davies, and her second blast found the back of the net to make it 2-0.
A few short minutes later, Xenia got its first speed goal. Amy Stafford sent a great ball up the middle of the field, and Heather Harrison outran the Ross defense for a one-on-one opportunity that she easily converted.
"(The artificial surface) worked to their advantage, but hey, you've gotta play where they tell you play, when they tell you to play and who they tell you play," Hibbs said. "But that's not what hurt us. We just didn't come to play tonight.
"These are high school girls," Hibbs continued. "Sometimes they show up, sometimes they don't."
Ross did come out playing much better after halftime, but whatever hopes the Rams had for a comeback were squashed when Harrison scored her second goal of the game off a corner kick from Megan Cousins to make it 4-0 with 33:29 remaining.
And just 29 seconds later, it was 5-0 when Stafford took a perfect cross from Morgan Butler. Harrison rounded out the scoring with another speed run right through the Ross defense.
The Rams ended their season 14-3-2, while the Buccaneers, who are unbeaten in their last 10 games, advanced past the district semifinals for the first time in three years.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.
