FAIRBORN — The host Fairborn Skyhawks had been enjoying a bit of a winning streak, but they were no match for state’s No. 3-ranked Beavercreek.
The visiting Beavers grabbed a 3-0 lead, while trying to figure out Fairborn’s stingy defense, in the first half. They then put four more scores on the Fairborn Soccer Stadium scoreboard for a solid 7-0 win, Oct. 3 in a well-played girls high school soccer match.
After beginning the season 0-6, Fairborn had reeled off six wins in the team’s last seven games, including the last five straight. For of the Skyhawks’ last five wins were of the shutout variety. So Fairborn (6-8-0, 5-4-0 in the GWOC South) came into Wednesday’s Greater Western Ohio Conference crossover battle with Beavercreek playing well.
Beavercreek, now 14-0-0 and 7-0-0 in the GWOC East) just played better.
With crisp passes, more speed to the loose balls and constant offensive pressure, the Beavers spent most of Wednesday night’s match on the Skyhawks’ side of the pitch. Despite a bevy of lineup substitutions, Beavercreek still got off 30 shots against Fairborn. Half of those shots were on goal.
“We knew Beavercreek was going to be solid. So we came in with a defensive scheme to slow them down, and we did. But at the end of the day, they just keep pounding away and pounding away, they’re going to put some goals in,” said Fairborn coach Keith Rentz. “I felt like we gave up a few easy goals that maybe we can clean up on the defensive side, but all credit to Beavercreek. They move the ball well. The field conditions weren’t great, but they played through it and did a really nice job.”
Beavercreek’s Marcella Cash added to her team best scoring total with a pair of goals. Cash now has 21 goals this season and entered the contest ranked third in goals scored among GWOC players. She scored the Beavers’ first goal of each half.
Ella Bianco scored on a penalty kick with 9.5 seconds left in the first half to give Beavercreek a 3-0 halftime margin. She later took a pass from junior defender Kate Helton and skipped a shot under the Skyhawks goalie’s hands for Bianco’s second score of the night.
Molly Sedlock, Maggie Holstein and Morgan Currier each added one goal for the undefeated Beavers.
The win over Fairborn was Beavercreek’s ninth consecutive shutout of the season, and the team’s twelfth overall. The Beavers will will host St. Ursula Academy for a nonleague contest at 7 p.m. Saturday Oct. 6.
“They have high expectations for each other,” Beavercreek assistant coach Sarah McKitrick said. “It’s something they carry with them into each practice and every game, where they just expect a lot out of each other. Because of that, it’s their team.
“Fairborn made us work harder for our goals by taking away our give-n-go plays, and kinda centering their defense in the middle to make it more difficult for us to do a lot of our passing,” she added. “In the second half, we adjusted and started playing shots over the top and maybe skipping a pass and going from a 1-2 touch to just a single pass and then a shot.”
Beavercreek has now outscored its opponents, 78-3 this season.
Rentz and the Skyhawks have a week off before traveling to take on Xenia for a very key GWOC South battle at 7:15 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 11 at Doug Adams Stadium.
“The winner of that match will win the GWOC South,” Rentz said. “Our girls are pumped up and ready to go, but I know that Xenia will be, too.”
