CAMDEN — The Preble Shawnee girls soccer team lost a hard-fought match, 2-1, to the Waynesville Spartans on Thursday, Sept. 29. The game featured perhaps the two best teams in the area, and two of the top 15 teams in the state.
“We did what we needed to do to win, but Waynesville is really good and came up with the win,” said Shawnee coach Kevin Schaeffer. “We could play each other 100 times, and would probably win 50 of them and this was not one of those wins for us. We are both sectional and district winners — clearly the best went at it tonight.”
There were very few shots in the first half of the game, as the play on the pitch was very physical by both teams. For much of the half, ball play occurred close to the Arrow goal. The Lady Arrows had two close chances for shots later on, but the ball was cleared out by the Spartan defense. The first goal of the game came from Waynesville, from a corner kick that somehow curved into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Junior forward Saylor Jewell brought the Lady Arrows back into the game on a goal with 59 seconds remaining, to tie it up 1-1 at halftime.
The second half was more energetic, as Shawnee came out to attempt four shots on goal within the first seven minutes of the half. Unfortunately, no goals passed into the opponents’ net.
The second half turned out to be even more physical than the first, as numerous fouls were called — even a yellow card was issued against Waynesville.
At the 14:18 mark, Waynesville tipped the ball past the defense on an assist in front of the net for its second and final goal of the night.
Down 2-1, Preble Shawnee stepped it up with a few more shots — one shot hit the top crossbar. The Lady Arrows were vigilant defensively but stayed within one goal and Waynesville walked away with the victory.
“Their first goal was a fluke shot, but the second goal found someone’s foot and sneaked past our defense,” said Schaeffer.
The all but eliminates the Arrows from having a shot at winning the league title.
“The league is pretty much out of contention for us, but we still have a lot to play for,” he said. “The seniors are devastated for not being able to win the league but we can battle back from this. They worked hard in this game. I don’t think our goalkeeper even touched the ball in the second half, which is a testament to our team. We had plenty of chances in the second half, but we just didn’t score. I don’t mind losing to one of the very best public schools in the state. I’m not upset, but we really needed the win.”
Preble Shawnee fell to 7-2-1 on the season, and 5-2 in the Southwestern Buckeye League, behind Waynesville who is 6-0 in the conference. The Lady Arrows were scheduled to play on Saturday, Oct. 1, against Troy Christian and on Monday, Oct. 3, at Bishop Fenwick.
