MONROE — Preble Shawnee’s girls soccer team claimed its second sectional title in the past three years with a 2-0 win over Anna on Tuesday, Oct. 25.
Shawnee used excellent defense and good ball control to move on to the distict for the first time since 2014 and just the second time in school history.
The game was filled with fast paced action along with the typical style of physical play that Preble Shawnee is known for, which was an advantage against the talented but young Rockets.
“Anna is very scrappy, they really get after it,” said Preble Shawnee coach Kevin Schaeffer. “They are super young and have no seniors — I’m not sure if this is a team I would want to play two years from now.”
The Arrows didn’t take long to gain control of the match. In the games first three minutes, Sayler Jewell tapped the ball into the Rockets’ net for the first goal of the game.
Preble Shawnee had numerous chances to increase the lead, with seven more shots on goal, but was unable to hit the inside of the net.
Anna was held to just two shots on goal against Shawnee, who led 1-0 at halftime.
Preble Shawnee poured on the pressure in the second half, with a much more aggressive pace. At the 32:36 mark, Olivia Rader kicked a high, long ball from 30 yards out which sailed over the Anna goalie’s head and landed in the corner of the net for the goal.
As in the first half, the Arrows had seven more shots on goal, but nothing came of their efforts. Defensively, the Arrows’ efforts prevented any shots from Anna for the rest of the game.
“The first half was similar to how we played against Milton-Union,” said Schaeffer. “We had these gaps of slow play and I didn’t like it. But with the one goal lead, it was pretty nice. We have this tendency to be a bit passive instead of pushing the ball up and putting on pressure the entire game. But we made adjustments at halftime and we prevented them from threatening our net. If you can prevent a team from shooting on you, it’s a recipe for success.”
The No. 5 seeded Lady Arrows opened tournament play on Saturday, Oct. 22, at home, against Troy Christian, a team they beat earlier in the season.
Shawnee remained dominant over Troy Christian, winning 4-0.
“I was a little bit concerned for several reasons,” said Schaeffer. “First, this is a Saturday game. I’ve never been a big Saturday game fan as you never really know what you are going to get. We have typically not been a Saturday kind of team. Second, we already have played Troy Christian once this year and although we handled them fairly easily with a 3-0 win, they did have a few dangerous chances… Lastly, and most importantly, it is tournament time. One loss, one error, one bad game, and you could see your season come to an end. Fortunately, the game pretty much went off without any major hitches.”
Preble Shawnee jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half, with goals from Alyssa Davidson, and Jewell. The Lady Arrows allowed only two shots on goal in the half.
Preble Shawnee remained in control in the second half. Jewell scored her second goal early in the period, followed up by a goal from Jenna Lovely toward the end of the game.
“We controlled the game for the second 40 minutes,” said Schaeffer. “For the game, we limited Troy Christian to one, maybe two shots, none of which came in the second half.”
The Arrows will play on Saturday, Oct. 29, at West Carrollton High School against the No. 2 seed Cincinnati Summit Country Day at 7 p.m. Preble Shawnee is currently 13-2-1 on the season.
The winner of Saturday’s game will advance to the regional next week, on Tuesday, Nov. 1.
