By Skip Weaver
Contributing Writer
LEBANON – Maggie Daigle was in the right place and the right time to help the Fenwick girls’ soccer team survive and advance in the Division III sectional tournament.
Daigle, a freshman forward, was right in front of the net when a crossing shot deflected off Waynesville goalkeeper Emily Gill, who had 103 saves coming into the game. She punched the ball into the goal with 4:56 left in the first half and the Falcons made it stand up in a 1-0 win over the Spartans on Monday night at Lebanon’s Jim VanDeGrift Stadium.
“I just followed the ball all the way on a good cross and the goalkeeper went for it,” said Daigle, who scored for just the second time this season. “When it deflected off her I was just fortunate to get it in for the score.”
The win moved the Division III defending state champion Falcons into the district finals on Thursday against Mariemont. The game will be played starting at 7 p.m. at Goshen High School.
“A win is a win,” Fenwick co-coach Kate Gallo said as the Falcons improve to 8-5-5 on the season. “We had plenty of opportunities to score and finish this game off, but we didn’t take advantage of them.
“Waynesville ran through us,” she continued. “They played hard and aggressive and made us work for it. You have to survive and advance and that’s what we did.”
Gallo said her squad played a much better second half against the Spartans, but still left too many opportunities get away.
“I think we played better in the second half,” Gallo said. “We had better possessions and cleaner shot opportunities, but I don’t think we were as inspired as I have seen is in the past.
“We need to take advantage of those as we move forward,” she continued. “We don’t know how many of them we are going to have. They get less frequent as you advance in the tournament because the competition increases. If we can’t take advantage then we’ll be in a world of hurt.”
Fenwick defeated Middletown Christian 7-0 last Thursday to reach the sectional finals against Waynesville. Scoring in that win for Fenwick were Ashley Bremar, Emily Rice, Taylor Engle, Kaitlyn Comstock, Allie Schoenhoft, Leandra Hess and Elissa Sander.
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