Lexington Minutemen, Ontario Warriors set up rematch for soccer district title

LEXINGTON - The rematch is set.

Both Lexington and Ontario boys soccer teams won their Division II district semifinal matches on Monday evening to set up what everyone has been waiting to see since last season's district championship.

Lexington began the night with a convincing 3-0 win over Huron. Ontario followed up in the night cap with a 2-1 win over Vermilion.

Lexington got on the board quickly. Aiden Murray found Ryan Parker's corner kick at his feet after the ball bounced around the box for a while and he drilled in a shot at the 29:19 mark to take the 1-0 lead.

"It was huge, especially since Huron had only given up 13 goals all season coming into tonight," Lexington coach Peter Them said. "We knew if we had to go, we had to do it early. I think it may have rattled them a little bit, but getting that first one is huge for anyone."

After the early score, the two teams battled for possession for most of the first half before Owen Dove found Gavin George with just 53 seconds remaining for a huge momentum grabbing goal to give Lex the 2-0 lead heading into halftime.

Parker then added a goal with 8:50 left in the match for a bit of insurance and Lex cruised to the district final with the shutout win.

"I would have liked to put a couple more in the net in that one, but we did what we needed to do," Them said. "We possessed the ball well.

"I think we are right where we need to be. The problem is when we play our first two opponents and win by a combined 19-0, you get greedy at points and are not as sharp as we should be."

The Warriors followed suit to set up the all-Richland County district final, knocking off Vermilion with a little bit of help. Just 11 minutes into the game, Riley Lamport sent a corner kick at the goal that was headed by a Vermilion player into his own goal to give Ontario the early 1-0 lead. While it is always nice to score first, it is demoralizing for an opponent to score an own goal in the district semifinal.

"To get on the board first was big," Ontario coach Chris McClenathan said. "It opened our eyes and made us look at our teammates and be thankful we were not on the other end of that."

After Vermilion tied it up on a penalty kick that was initially blocked by keeper Matt Weaver but was sent home on a rebound to make it 1-1 with 35:04 remaining in the match. That was when the intensity and speed of the two teams' attack really picked up.

"We have been a team which has played to our opponents ability all season long," McClenathan said. "We played their game and we came out on the better end."

Less than 13 minutes later, Brennan Blaising sent in the game-winning goal with a rocket from the right side of the box. His big goal deserved a big celebration: He executed a perfect back flip.

"I have been waiting for quite a while to do it," Blaising said. "Ever since the Mansfield Senior game I have just been thinking these games are getting bigger and we might as well celebrate bigger."

Weaver then locked down the goal with 11 saves to preserve the Ontario win after going the first two tournament games without much action at all.

"It feels great, but I would have liked to have kept a clean sheet, but it is great to get some saves and help the team win," Weaver said. "Second half got a bit busier, but I feel we played very well."

Lex and Ontario will meet up for the Division II district championship at 5 p.m. Thursday at Lexington High School. The two coaches admitted it is going to be the game of the year.

"It is going to be a fun game," McClenathan said. "They are a great team, we are a great team and they got us the first time this year. It is for bragging rights for the county.

"When you schedule quality teams during the regular season like River View, Lexington, Madison, Bay, Marysville and Granville, it prepares us for games like this. That is why we schedule those games to get us the experience for games like tonight. No panic, we got the job done."

Lex and Ontario met up in the first game of the year on Friday Nigh Futbol way back on Aug. 17, with Lex coming away with a 1-0 win. But if you ask them, Game 1 will not tell the tale of the district final on Thursday.

"Ontario has played a tough schedule this year and have some very talented guys who can score and have a very nice goal keeper," Them said. "They are going to be well-organized.

"Game 1 of the season doesn't mean anything. We played them years ago in the regular season to a 3-3 tie then came out and played well in the district final and won 3-0. It took us to the 20-minute mark left in the game to even open up the scoring and then every match from then has just been battles. I expect nothing less."

Other scores

Division I Girls District Semifinal Soccer

Ashland 3, Findlay 2

The Ashland Lady Arrows are off to the district finals after defeating Findlay 3-2 on Monday. Mckinley Mendenhall dominated the night recording a hat trick before halftime  to give the Lady Arrows the 3-0 lead. Findlay came battling back but ran out of time as the Lady Arrows move on to the district final at 6 p.m. at Northview taking on St. Ursula.

jfurr@gannett.com

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Twitter: @JakeFurr11