HAMILTON — A defensive surge has put the Badin High School girls soccer team in a good position.
Reagan Nieman scored two goals, and the Rams pitched their third straight shutout to beat the Talawanda Brave 4-0 in a Division III district semifinal on Monday night at Spooky Nook.
“I think there’s one thing that has to be said, and it’s the fact that I don’t think our defense gets enough credit,” Badin coach Chris Slusher said. “I think we’re really defensively sound, and we do a good job of defending.”
The Rams didn’t allow the Brave to do much on the attack, and Badin overwhelmingly held possession most of the game as a result.
Badin freshman Bella McFarland knocked in the first goal four minutes in, and Nieman hit the back of the net to put the Rams up 2-0 with 26:37 left in the first half.
Nieman, a sophomore, scored her second goal moments later to give the Rams a 3-0 advantage they’d take into the half. Then senior Abby Mathews closed it out with a late goal.
“It’s the style that we play,” said Slusher, who noted that his program hasn’t played a single game with a healthy lineup all season. “We’ve been forced to get contributions not from just one player. I think some of our defenders are our leading scorers. You don’t know who’s going to score.”
Badin (11-4-4) advances to face Chaminade Julienne for a district title on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Troy. The Rams have won 18 district championships in 24 appearances since 1995.
“I think we’re fun to watch, to be honest,” said Slusher, now in his third year at the Ram helm. “I think in sequences and at certain periods of time, we’re pretty fun to watch.
“I don’t think a lot of people talk about our possessions and how dynamic we are with the ball.”
Talawanda (8-9-1) finished its second season under head coach Kelsey Sams, who praised her squad’s effort.
“I think our record doesn’t really show the type of talent that we have,” Sams said. “We had a very slow start to the season. We let some goals in that we shouldn’t have let in. There were some games that we lost by one or two where we gave up on silly things that we did on our end.
“I feel like when we look back at our schedule, it doesn’t really reflect what we can do.”
Talawanda graduates seniors Abby Detherage, Kelsi Carver, Libby Zettler, Mia Abbott, Nora Rode, Ellie Killy and Julie Watt.
“We had a lot of talent, and they worked together so well,” Sams said. “We just had such a good team atmosphere, so that’s all you can ask for.”
Sams said when she took over at Talawanda last season, the focus was to enforce the basics.
“I feel like at Talawanda, what we do really well that some of the other big schools don’t do is that we do a really good job of developing them,” Sams said. “We start from the basics and develop — go over runs and where the ball is placed on touches.“When we look at that, we’re so proud of the girls, and the coaching staff is so proud of that.”
Goalkeepers Blake Sakach, Avery Niesen and Kenadi Bynum each had two saves for Badin, which blanked Dublin Scioto 4-0 and Mount Healthy 10-0 before heading into Monday’s contest.
“We’ve definitely had some kids that have stepped up and performed,” Slusher said. “When they take the opportunity, they run with it.”
