‘Everybody’s fighting to move on.’ Tensions high on opening night of 11th Region soccer.
In an emotionally charged win-or-go home game between two of the state’s best girls high school soccer teams, Frederick Douglass midfielder Haley Flynn struck the go-ahead goal to send the No. 13 Broncos to the 11th Region Tournament semifinals with a 2-1 over No. 8 Lafayette on Monday night at The Farm.
All four of the region tournament’s quarterfinal games kicked off at 7 p.m. Monday with No. 1 Lexington Catholic and 44th District champion Madison Central each winning with 6-0 routs while 41st District champion Great Crossing topped visiting Henry Clay 4-3.
At Frederick Douglass, Flynn’s game-winning goal came on a counter attack spearheaded by speedy forward Maddi Merryweather, who blazed through the center of the field and fed Flynn on the right wing just as they got to the 18-yard box.
“Maddi’s been running at the back line, and we talked at halftime about how she needed some help. I didn’t want this to be my last game, so I busted it up the sideline and just finished,” Flynn said. “I knew I had to take a tap touch and just hit it to the back post.”
The goal put Douglass up 2-1 with 9:55 left and flipped the momentum back into the Broncos’ favor after Lafayette tied the game 12 minutes earlier on a long-distance shot by Ally Robertson.
Lafayette fell behind 1-0 in the first half when Douglass left back Gabrielle Barnes took a one-touch shot that rocketed off the underside of the crossbar and into the net 10 minutes into the game. Jordan “Jojo” Williams provided the assist.
Douglass (17-4-1) out-possessed and outshot Lafayette (14-5-3) in the first half, but the Generals stepped up their play in the second. A collision inside the box early in the second half sent Lafayette’s leading scorer Lily Simpson off the field with a bloody nose, but she returned to action in time to see Robertson equalize.
“It got super emotional there, and in these types of games that’s what’s going to happen. Emotions are going to rise and it gets physical,” Douglass coach Megan Adkins said. “We told the girls at halftime that that’s not what the score’s going to be. They are going to fight. … It’s postseason. You’ve got to play till the horn blows. Everybody’s fighting to move on.”
Unfortunately for Douglass, Merryweather received a straight red card for taunting as the game ended. That means the Broncos will probably be without one of their leading scorers and assist makers for the remainder of the tournament as she serves out a corresponding suspension.
Monday’s other quarterfinals
Great Crossing 4, Henry Clay 3: Kylee Tyson’s line drive free kick, straight on, from about 30 yards away scored her third goal of the game with 8:37 to play and helped the Warhawks (11-6-3) fend off a furious comeback by the Blue Devils (9-10-2).
The game ended in controversy as the center referee had one second put back on the clock to allow Henry Clay to take a corner kick, according to the Georgetown News-Graphic’s Kal Oakes.
Henry Clay took the kick and appeared to head in the game-tying goal, but the referee signaled the end of the game while the ball was in the air, disallowing the score.
Great Crossing took a 1-0 lead 36 seconds into the game on Finley Ison’s goal from a Tyson assist. In the second half, Tyson scored twice in the first 12 minutes to give the Warhawks a 3-0 lead.
But Henry Clay rallied after a handball in the box gave Avery Allen a penalty kick she put home to cut the lead to 3-1 with 26:03 left. Grace Plummer scored three minutes later to cut it to 3-2. Allen scored her second three minutes after that giving Henry Clay a 3-3 tie midway through the second half and setting up Tyson’s game-winner and the final-second drama.
Lexington Catholic 6, Madison Southern 0: The Knights (22-1-1) showed why they are ranked No. 1 in the state by taking a 5-0 lead by halftime over the visiting Eagles (9-6-1). Sydney Elbert scored two goals while Zara McCarthy, Joanna Bryant, Lily Crisp and Lilly Meegan each had one. Bryant provided the assists for both Elbert goals. Addie Wheeler, Izzy Skinner and McCarthy also had assists.
Madison Central 6, Franklin County 0: Grace Howard scored two goals and Natalie Knecht, Skylar Collingsworth, Emily Couch and Phoebee Omohundro each had one as the Indians (13-3-1) cruised to the region semifinals for the third straight year. Franklin County finished the season 8-14-0.
Girls 11th Region Tournament
At Madison Southern High School (grass field)
Wednesday’s semifinals
6 p.m.: Lexington Catholic vs. Great Crossing
8 p.m.: Madison Central vs. Frederick Douglass
Saturday’s finals
1 p.m.: Championship game
This story was originally published October 10, 2023 at 7:35 AM.
