LEXINGTON — Leila Stevens may not be Ontario’s most prolific goal scorer, but the junior midfielder found herself in the spotlight Wednesday evening.
Stevens scored a rebound goal with 17:30 remaining in the first half as the Warriors knocked off Lexington 2-0 in a Division II district semifinal match at Lexington High School.
Ontario (15-2-2) advanced to the district championship match and will play Madison for a berth in the Sweet 16 at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lexington. Madison beat Clear Fork 2-1 in Wednesday’s late game.
The Warriors were clinging to a precarious 1-0 lead when Stevens provided a little breathing room. She collected a rebound of Adi Pittman’s shot and tapped it into the net for a 2-0 lead with 17:30 remaining in the first half.
“I always run toward the ball on the back post,” Stevens said of her fourth goal of the season. “It was there for me.”
Ontario got on the board in the 13th minute when Hattie Yugovich knocked in her 32nd goal of the season off an assist from Braelyn Llewellyn.
“In a tournament like this, with the qualify of teams in the district, if you get a 2-0 lead it’s hard to come back from unless you get some big mistakes from the other team,” Ontario coach Larry Atkinson said. “We didn’t make that big mistake in the second half. That’s what kept the game in our favor.”
Lady Lex (9-5-4) had opportunities to cut into Ontario’s 2-0 advantage late in the first half, but Ontario keeper Sarah Hendrix came up with a couple of big saves.
“We get a couple chances and if one of those goes and we go 2-1 at half, it looks a little different,” Lexington coach Buck Morton said. “It just never materialized.”
The loss brought an end to the high school careers of 10 Lexington seniors, including Morton’s daughter, Sam.
“This is rough. It’s always rough,” Buck Morton said. “We’ve got 10 seniors. One of them is my daughter and the rest of them feel like they’re my daughters. I don’t get any more emotionally invested than this.”
Ontario will try to win its first district title since 2016. The Warriors, who fell to Lady Lex in last year’s district final, have reached the district final each of the past 15 seasons.
“That just tells you the commitment of the kids,” Atkinson said. “The work ethic the kids put in in the off-season and during the summer pays off.
“They’re going to work hard and they’re going to be ready.”