THORNVILLE — On Tuesday, the Circleville girls made a trip to Sheridan for a Southeast District matchup that will likely have major tournament-seeding ramifications. The Tigers came in ranked No. 7 in the Southeast District Coaches’ Poll and the Generals came in at No. 9.
The Tigers had a 2-1 lead at halftime and made it hold up through a scoreless second half for the win.
The Generals struck first, just nine minutes into the match to take the lead 1-0.
“Their early goal was particularly frustrating since we had controlled possession and had really limited their attack early,” Circlevilel coach Joseph Stitt said.
Nine minutes later though, the Tigers answered when Makya Cockerham found Bella Morningstar open in front of the net, and Morningstar slotted a shot past the keeper.
“Makya may have had one of the most heads-up plays I’ve seen all year to help us score the equalizing goal. She drove down to the end line, and most of the defense stopped when they assumed she dribbled out of bounds,” Stitt said. “She did a great job of keeping the ball in and made a really composed pass. Bella finished beautifully.”
Four minutes later the Tigers took the lead when Morningstar crossed the ball from the right side into the middle to find Cockerham who buried the shot behind the keeper.
“Our second goal really was the culmination of a tremendous effort all around, all starting from Olivia Gonzalez sliding in to break up a pass to get us possession. It was a great team goal,” Stitt said.
The Tigers took the 2-1 lead into halftime and that proved to be enough. Kylie McCain made a few key saves to maintain the lead (four total), and the Tigers left with the 2-1 victory.
“Sheridan has gotten better each and every season. It took 80 minutes of non-stop effort to win this one,” Stitt said. “They legitimately might be the fastest and most athletic team in our district. It took every bit we had to come home with the victory.”
Tigers improve to 6-3-2 overall and have another huge matchup this week when they travel Thursday to Unioto.
Unioto was ranked No. 3 in the SE district in last week’s coaches’ poll. The Tigers come into the match riding a four-game-winning streak, and Unioto is coming off an 11-0 thrashing of league opponent Piketon.
