Clear Fork was a victim of some missed opportunities and some bad breaks on Saturday as they lost to Lima Bath by a score of 1-0 in the girls’ soccer Division II regional final at Findlay High School.
Bath’s Julie Evans scored the only goal of the match with 24:21 remaining in the first half on a rebound shot near the Clear Fork net.
It first appeared that the Lady Colts (16-3-2) had tied the match with just under 25 minutes to play when Meshia Curry appeared the half the equalizer, but it was waved off. At first it the thought was the it was off sides, but no flag was ever raised. It might have been a handball, but Clear Fork coach Brittany Bechtel said officials never explained anything to her other than the goal didn’t count.
“You score and you aren’t even really sure why it was taken back. If it was offsides or a handball, I have no idea. We were fighting a lot of different factors. Staying positive and motivated in a situation like that can be very difficult for high school kids,” said Bechtel.
There was also some controversy surrounding Evans goal. Bechtel says her four year varsity keeper Morgan Bailey thought clearly she had made a save on the attempt close to the edge of the goal. Play continued for at least five seconds after Evans rebound attempt before the whistle was blown and officials ruled the ball had broken the plane of the goal.
“She played so well (Saturday). She feels really bad. They say that goal rolled over her arm and she felt like that didn’t happen. That is just a sick feeling when that is the only goal of the game,” said Bechtel.
It was a physical game. With less than 10 minutes to play in the match Clear Fork’s leading scorer Jordyne Helinski was slammed in the ribs and knocked sideways for what appeared to be a few yards away. The collision resulted only in a “play-on” gesture by officials.
Clear Fork had beaten Parma Holy Name (2-1) in a regional semi-final match on Tuesday night and Bechtel thought they really hadn’t recovered physically from that match when it came time to play on Saturday.
“There were a lot of girls that had more to give I thought. Coming off Holy Name on Tuesday that was a very intense game. I was watching their bodies and they just couldn’t handle it. Deijah (Swihart) has been limping all week. Our outside mids just weren’t themselves. It was more like their energy level wasn’t themselves. It was like they wanted to give more and they just couldn’t,” said Bechtel.
There was a consistent wind blowing from the north that really affected the match. Which ever squad had the wind, controlled the possession. However, Bechtel says they didn’t take advantage of the wind when they had the chance.
“I felt like we we’re working the ball. When we had the wind we were just cranking stuff instead of working it. We weren’t playing our game. Sometimes I thought we just resorted to easy things. Then we started getting hard on ourselves instead of feeling positive. it is hard to motivate them when they are down like that.” she said.
