Indians edge West 2-1 in sectional girls soccer semifinal

It had been a rough start to the Division I sectional girls soccer semifinal for Fairfield High School junior Cierra Crosby.

The Indians’ forward spent the entire first half thinking about a missed opportunity in front of the the Lakota West goal.

Forty minutes of frustration went away for Crosby with one rifle shot and rebound with 28:48 remaining as she netted the game-winning goal in Fairfield’s 2-1 win Saturday afternoon at Fairfield Stadium.

“That made me so happy,” Crosby said. “I knew I needed to get that in, and it felt good to see it get to the back of the net.”

Crosby rifled a shot from 10 yards out, but it was right at West keeper Adrianna Brewer. She couldn’t hang onto the ball and Crosby just beat her to the rebound and slid it into the back of the net.

“That’s what we do is try to make runs to get them in position to score,” Fairfield coach Patrick O’Leary said after his squad improved to 13-2-2. “She hit that ball hard enough that it came out to her on the rebound.”

All the scoring came after the two teams tried to find their legs in the first half playing on the turf of Fairfield Stadium rather than the grass of Fairfield’s Christy Rose Dennis Memorial Stadium.

Saturday night was also Fairfield’s homecoming dance.

“I thought we were very lethargic in the first half,” O’Leary said. “I was a little worried with how they’d come back with the parade and the (homecoming) football game (Friday) and the dance (Saturday). I told them at halftime that we had no energy, and it’s not rocket science to me because I can tell by how they are in pregame.”

The Firebirds (5-9-4) controlled a lot of the play in the first half, but could manage just one shot on goal as the Indians’ defense dug in deep in their own third.

“The possession was there,” West coach Brigit Reder said. “We attacked them different ways. We just didn’t find a way to finish.”

Fairfield finally finished less than five minutes into the second half when Alexis Goins scored off a corner kick from Ryann Meddings.

Crosby found the back of the net six minutes later before West got on the board with a goal by sophomore Sophia Denison.

“We had a couple of mental letdowns,” Reder said. “We had a lot of opportunities, and we just couldn’t capitalize on our other chances.”

Fairfield keeper Maiya Caldwell had a lot to do with the Firebirds’ frustration.

Caldwell made a leaping save with 24:08 left and was just able to beat Divya Patel to a loose ball in front of the goal with 15:02 remaining.

“They had opportunities,” O’Leary said. “Maiya made some great saves for us, but we are kind of use to her making those.”

The Indians will meet Lebanon for a sectional championship at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Lakota East.

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