[Preface: Someone last night reminded me that mostly all Lexington had was lurkers on this message board and that I needed to post more about Lexington (note: I noted that "truefan" was an exception in this.) I wrote this when "CJ" asked about the game this morning but no one had posted the scores in between various work tasks; after I wrote it I saw "truefan" had already posted the score -- but since I've written it I'll go ahead and post it. I'll also get in trouble and in honor or senior night for the first time use all applicable names in here.]Lexington: 3; Irmo: 1
It was senior night at Lexington. Lexington had already wrapped up its fourth straight region IV title (the first time in the school's history that this has occurred). There was a brief ceremony before the game in which an announcer read remarks prepared by the coach for each of the seniors. It was clear the coach had put a lot of time and thought into the remarks -- and he was unbelievably gracious concerning how much the current class of players had contributed to the four-year region IV titles and the state finalist run last year. He noted that there were two players who had played (and lettered) all four years.
Going in it was a scary game. It's a pretty intense rivalry. Last season, Irmo beat Lexington in their second matchup for Lexington's only loss last season in the region. The game before this one this season went to PKs. I've said previously that I think Irmo is a very talented team; last night didn't change that opinion a bit.
The game began and it was immediately clear that Irmo came to play. They started the game very physically and the strategy was effective. Lexington had the better of play but couldn't convert even though the team was overloaded offensively with a different lineup. Irmo scored first when the referees called a foul in the box. It did not appear to be a foul to this highly biased observer; but I give the Irmo player credit at least for selling it (again, I'm biased.) Haley Hutchins took the PK and cleanly scored.
Lexington came back with a goal by Allie Johns when she made a nice goal with very good pace in a one-on-one play with the keeper after receiving an assist by Kira Campbell. At the half it was 1-1 with Lexington seemingly having the better of play. Irmo however was dangerous on counterattacks. Lexington actually had either one or two more goals go into the net but offsides was called. While the offsides were close, I think that the referees made the right call (hard to admit as a Lexington fan, but true.)
The second half was a very different game. Irmo came out and dominated Lexington for the first 10-15 minutes, particularly Lexington's midfield. Lexington managed to keep Irmo from scoring, but it was (from a Lexington perspective) a very ugly period of time. Irmo players that deserve particular mention who played well during that time (not just during that time, but particularly during that time) were Rachel Wadsworth and Haley Hutchins.
Lexington broke the tie when Jessica Marshall scored directly in front of the goal with a solid shot on an assist by Campbell in about the 65th minute (estimated.) The final goal was scored on a free kick from the left side of the 25 or so over the wall and into the upper right 90 by Campbell in the estimated 70th or so minute. After that, as is his habit the coach emptied the bench.
Irmo's keeper (Nicole Merchant) had a good game; she was active and aggressive in the goal. In fact, I thought that Irmo's defense played well given all of the pressure on them -- they saved quite a few balls that I thought were going to be corners. Irmo also played the corners that did occur well.
[Postscripts and even more opinions:
- Thanks to all of the Lexington seniors who played well last night and have for so long: Emily Adams, Tabitha Billesbach, Kira Campbell, Meredith Golay, Charlotte Hall, Allie Johns, Miranda Johnson, Jessica Marshall, Holly Ritter, and Taylor Rutland.
- There are lots of people all season who talk about the "score run-up police" and the like. For four years I've seen the coach at Lexington report games against teams as weak as O-W as 5-0 and never run-up scores -- just doesn't allow it. When you hear about the Aiken game, for example, you see a score reported as 3-0 -- what you don't hear is that it was 3-0 in the first 20 minutes and then the bench was emptied (note: most but not all of the starters did play another 20 minutes in the second half.) I know that region IV is tougher than most; but I also know that I tend to judge people not on just what they say but what they do.
- Someone got on and talked about the Lexington coach getting a yellow in a game last week. Every time this season that I've seen the coach get upset on the sideline it was about the health of a player. That's it. As a parent, I'm glad that someone is out there is worried about injuries.
- My only complaint in the Irmo game was that a refereeing crew once again in my opinion allowed the game to get increasingly physical to the point of endangering health. The foul that resulted in the free kick that Lexington scored on actually occurred when two different players were taken out separately -- it was honestly difficult to tell which foul was being called -- and this was just the epitome of a bunch of very physical play. Fortunately the injuries appeared minor. I don't blame Irmo for this -- if I were a player I'd keep playing increasingly physically if the referees weren't calling it -- but we literally had players picking up other players by the waist when they had the ball and trying to throw them and the referees not making a call.]
