TROTWOOD — Botkins couldn’t keep up with state-ranked Yellow Springs in a Division III district final on Thursday at Trotwood-Madison High School’s Miami Valley Hospital Sportsplex.
But advancing to a district final after falling short of making one last year was a positive step for a young group according to coach Kevin Lynch.
The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead by halftime, then scored two late goals to pull away to a 4-0 victory and hand the Trojans a season-ending loss.
Botkins, which won district titles in 2019 and 2020 before losing in a district semifinal last year, finishes the season 13-7 overall.
The Trojans started the season with three consecutive losses and dropped to 3-4 after a 1-0 loss to Western Ohio Soccer League rival Spencerville on Sept. 13. But they won 10 of their last 13, including a 2-1 win over Waynesville in a district semifinal on Monday in Bellefontaine.
“I thought we had a really great season,” Lynch said. “If you told me at the beginning of the season we’d be in the district finals, I would take that. We improved over the entire season. The kids worked hard. It was a good experience.
“It’s too bad for the senior class to go out like this, but I don’t think anyone would have told us at the beginning of the season we’d be in the district finals. We’ll take it.”
The Trojans will lose three seniors to graduation in Brant Metz, Carson Motter and John Smock.
“Great group of kids. Hard-working kids,” Lynch said. “All our kids are hard-working. Obviously we’re disappointed we didn’t get the win tonight, but we knew it was going to be a tough row to hoe.”
Motter is a four-year starter and finishes with 49 career shutouts, good for a second-place tie in career shutouts on the OHSAA’s state records list.
“We’re definitely going to miss Carson between the pipes, for sure,” Lynch said. “He improved quite a bit this year. He showed quite a bit of leadership this year as a senior, working with a bunch of sophomores in the back line. I think he had 10, 11 saves tonight.”
Motter was named first team all-Western Ohio Soccer League along with Smock and juniors Reis Aselage and Rylyn Paul. Metz was named second team all-WOSL, as was junior Keegan Thorpe.
Paul led the squad with 12 goals while Aselage scored nine. Smock scored eight goals and had 14 assists. Thorpe scored six goals.
The Trojans’ roster had 10 underclassmen on it. Lynch is hopeful the returnees will help keep up the program’s success next season.
“We have a couple of nice freshmen coming in next year,” Lynch said. “If we can find a replacement for Carson, I think we should be good. Our goal is to be right back here next year, and instead of maybe getting the silver, we’ll get the gold.”
The Bulldogs scored their first goal at about the 20-minute mark in the first half, then scored on a header in the final seconds to take a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Yellow Springs missed several shots throughout the first 30 minutes of the second half. Botkins got control of the ball more late and had a goal negated due to being offsides with about six minutes left.
The Bulldogs then added two more goals to seal the win.
“I watched them play a couple of times. I knew it was going to be tough. They’re really good,” Lynch said. “They’ve got the player of the year in the Miami Valley. We came out defensive and tried to keep the score 0-0 at halftime, then score on some corner kicks maybe.
“We had two or three really good chances. We knew we weren’t going to get a lot of chances, so we had to take advantage of the chances we got. We weren’t even going for possession. I think we may have been better if we’d have played a little more possession than we tried. We weren’t winning any of the long balls.”
Yellow Springs senior Eli Eyrich scored three goals and had one assist. Henry Smith-Heston scored the other goal.
The Bulldogs (18-1-2) were ranked No. 7 in Div. III in the final state coaches association poll of the season.
Jackson Center finishes 13-4-1
Jackson Center finished the season 13-4-1 overall after losing 2-0 to Troy Christian in a district semifinal on Monday at Newton High School.
Seniors Camdyn Reese and Bryson Roberts, junior Trever Huber and sophomore Lucas Heitkamp were voted first team all-Western Ohio Soccer League.
Roberts led the squad with 15 goals and 14 assists. Huber scored 11 goals and had six assists and Reese scored 11 goals and had five assists. Heitkamp scored eight goals and had six assists.
Senior goalkeeper Candon Callhoun, senior Grant Elchert and junior Xavier Lowe were named second team all-WOSL. Elchert scored eight goals and had five assists. Callhoun had 102 saves.
