Ross’ Hailey Taylor and Justine Michael (8) hug after Ross’ 5-2 TRAC win over Lima Senior.
FREMONT – In another year, the Ross girls soccer team may have folded and withered.
When their resolve was tested, the Lady Giants might have concluded it just wasn’t meant to be.
But not this year. Not this team. Not these Lady Giants. Not with this senior class leading the way.
For only the second time since the Three Rivers Athletic Conference formed in 2011, and not since that inaugural year, Ross came away from a league contest not second-guessing itself nor replaying the would-haves or could-haves. Rather, the Lady Giants left the field celebrating a 5-2 victory over Lima Senior, just the program’s second TRAC victory and first since another win over Lima Senior, back in 2011.
“It’s amazing. It’s been a long time,” senior midfielder Addison Burmeister said. “We worked so hard for this. Coming up successful feels great.”
For seniors who’ve played since their freshman year, the win ended a 21-game winless streak in the conference. But that streak is over. Now Ross is riding a season-long undefeated record, 4-0, and, for now at least, not playing catch-up in the league.
“It feels really great, it feels really amazing,” senior forward Victoria Miller said. “Our team has really been putting work in and we finally have a winning record, undefeated, 4-0 now.
“We just wanted it. We wanted the win. This was our TRAC win right here, that really motivated us”
The game looked as though it was destined to be a laugher. Ross flew out of the gate, scoring in the first minute off a goal from Miller. She tallied another 10 minutes later off an assist from Elizabeth Bloom.
Ross’ Justine Michael scores on a penalty kick against Lima Senior.
After such a dominant start, Ross looked well on its way to victory, but the Spartans pushed back. A penalty by Maddie O’Connell deflected off Ross goalkeeper Hailey Taylor and squeaked just inside the corner of the goal to trim the lead.
Ross answered when Mary Miller took a terrific crossing pass from Mackenzie Kidwell and found the back of the net to retake the two-goal advantage, but it didn’t last long. Lima answered less than two minutes later with O’Connell’s second goal, cutting Ross’ halftime lead to 3-2.
Ross re-emerged from halftime and asserted itself once again. The Lady Giants controlled the play from start to finish, firing 15 shots toward the Lima net, forcing the goalkeeper to make eight stops.
“They got one and they got two and I think that woke our girls up a little bit, they feel asleep a little bit,” said assistant coach Josh McAfee, who filled in for head coach Phil Collison who had a job commitment Wednesday night. “It was nice to see them respond in that way. In past years we give up one or two and we tended to shut down. We have a good group of girls this year who responded well.”
Ross’ Victoria Miller scores her second goal of the game Wednesday in Ross’ 5-2 win over Lima Senior.
With 26 minutes to play, Justine Michael converted on a penalty kick to put Ross ahead 4-2 and with 10 minutes remaining Ashtyn Schneider scored with an assist from Miranda Shetzer to put the game away.
“I cannot contain my excitement. I’m ecstatic right now,” Taylor said. “It’s more of a satisfaction than it was relief but it was a bit of both.”
The girls have a week off before returning to action, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. where they’ll look to make it two in a row in the TRAC when they travel to Toledo Central Catholic.
“I think we’re going to surprise more than just one team here, and we’ll put up a fight against some others,” McAfee said. “In past years we’ve always been the underdog, but, like I told them, this isn’t the old Fremont Ross anymore. This is a new Fremont Ross that nobody knows.”