Published: October 27, 2009 10:32 pm      

Bourbon edges LadyCats

PARIS — Ashland’s dream of a state girls’ soccer championship slipped away Tuesday.

Literally.

Bourbon County eliminated the LadyCats, 1-0, in the opening round of the state tournament on freshman midfielder Raegan Crossfield’s fourth-minute goal at a muddy Stonerside Field.

Ashland finished at 18-6-1. Bourbon County hosts Notre Dame Academy in Thursday’s quarterfinals (the Pandas shut out St. Henry, 2-0).

“The bottom line is, the goal was on a slip,” Ashland coach E.B. Lowman said. “We came down the field, we took a shot, their keeper made a really excellent save.

They came down the field, they took a shot, and my keeper slipped.”

That would be junior Emily Salyers. She said there wasn’t anything she could have done.

“You can’t really do anything about the field,” Salyers said. “That sometimes happens; there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Junior striker Lily Gosser – who leads Bourbon County (22-1) in scoring with 33 goals – started what turned out to be the winning sequence.

Ashland had just missed in the third minute what turned out to be its best scoring chance of the first half when Bourbon County goalkeeper Lindsay Duvall deflected midfielder Chelsea Dietrich’s shot from about 10 yards out.

“I was surprised I got there,” Duvall said.

Gosser, who aggravated a knee injury she suffered last week, dribbled down the left side of the field to the corner. Her shot deflected off striker Morgan Carter’s knee to Crossfield, who tapped the shot past Salyers.

“I was surprised,” Crossfield said. “I thought (Carter) was going to take the shot.”

Lowman said his team “went on their heels” much of the rest of the half, adding that the LadyCats started passing well the last minutes.

“Then in the second half, we were absolutely in our game, and I felt like we controlled the second half,” Lowman said. “We knocked the ball around well, and we won the ball in the second half and did the things we needed to do. We just couldn’t get the ball to go in the net.”

Duvall, who made four saves, was perhaps busiest in the 72nd minute, when she stopped consecutive shots from junior Nicole Belville and Dietrich. Duvall said she had just as much trouble in goal as Salyers.

“Tons of mud,” Duvall said.

Ashland outshot Bourbon County, 10-9.

Last night’s loss, however, didn’t dampen an historic season - the LadyCats won their first 11th Region title, and they ended Russell’s five-year reign.

“I love them,” Lowman said. “They’re a great team. They’re probably overall the best team I’ve coached at Ashland in 17 years, and they’re definitely one of my favorites.”