MADISON TOWNSHIP — When Madison senior Ellie Powell stepped on the Rams’ home soccer field one final time, she knew she wanted to make the night memorable.
And she didn’t disappoint.
In the Rams’ 2-1 Division III sectional championship win over the Ashland Arrows, Powell scored both of her teams’ goals helping Madison advance to the district semifinals.
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“She is a gamer,” Madison coach Rob Kershner said. “She has always been like that. She steps up in the big games like this. Ellie Powell always steps up for her team.”
After Ashland took a 1-0 lead with 30:48 left in the first half, Powell scored the equalizer less than three minutes later when she finished off a perfect pass from Avery O’Brien to even things up at 1-1, where the score remained through halftime. She scored her second with 26:27 left in the match off of a pinged around corner kick that found her feet as she lofted a goal to the back post for the eventual game-winner.
“On the first one, I just looked up, saw an opening and fired away to put it in,” Powell said. “The second one was complete shock. I just threw it up there hoping it would do something and it went in. I am glad because we really wanted this win.”
Especially since it was her final game on the home field she has made many memories on over the last four years along with senior teammates.
“I have been playing with my senior teammates for a lot time and it means a lot every time I can take this field with them,” Powell said. “It means a lot to get the win and keep playing together as long as we possibly can. I feel like we are peaking at the right time so we just have to keep it going.”
After grabbing the 2-0 lead, the Rams turned the game over to its defense headlined by Addyson Powell, Maci Whitesel and Caliyah Clapper.
“Our defense played lights out when we needed it to the most,” Kershner said. “That is a huge plus for us moving forward because we are going to need it at its best from here on out.”
Madison (10-8-0) now moves on to play Ontario (15-1-2) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at Lexington High School in the district semifinals.
“We played them before and we feel like we have grown a lot since that game, so we are excited to play against them again,” Powell said. “If we play with the same excitement and drive that we played with tonight, I think we will be fine.”
The Warriors won the first meeting 2-0 back on Aug. 25.
“We are not the same team we were the first week of the season and I am not the same coach,” Kershner said. “We have all grown so much since that last game and we have come together a lot. We played a tough schedule this season with Olentangy, Granville, Lexington, Ontario, Clear Fork and some very tough teams. We are ready and looking forward to the opportunity.”
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Powell's two goals net Madison sectional championship win over Ashland