Coach Morgan Hendrickson and her North Adams Lady Devils will be the #5 seed in the upcoming Division III sectional soccer tournament. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
After this final week of regular season action, the pitch changes gears as the girls and boys sectional soccer tournaments are set to begin. The brackets have been revealed, with all of the Adams County girls and boys squads in Division III, and all are now looking ahead to traveling that postseason trail.
There are just two girls soccer teams in the county this season and earning the #5 seed in Division III were Coach Morgan Hendrickson and her North Adams Lady Devils, who will be looking to repeat their postseason success of last fall when they captured sectional and district championships before falling to Lynchburg in the regional tournament in a heartbreaking overtime penalty kick loss.
The Lady Devils (8-4-1) begin their 2023 sectional action on October 18 on their home field as they entertain #12 seeded Southeastern (2-10-1) in a 6 p.m. kickoff, with a sectional championship at stake. A win there and the Lady Devils will likely match up in the district semifinals with an old nemesis, the #4 seeded Wheelersburg Pirates (9-4-1) op on October 23 at a site to be determined.. Those two teams met back on September 16 in Wheelersburg with the Lady Pirates claiming a 3-1 victory.
”The draw went as expected for us,” siad Hendrickson. “We knew that with our record we had and losing to some of those other teams in our district we would have a tough road to the districts. With the 5 seed we are looking at a potential rematch against Wheelersburg and we are looking for a chance to redeem ourselves. I know we are facing some tough teams, but I’m confident in our ability to really make a strong run in the post season.”
Coach Kierra Stone and her Peebles Lady Indians are the #14 seed in Division III and will play in a sectional final on October 18 on the road at #3 seeded Minford (9-3-1). The winner of that contest will advance to the district semifinals on October 23.
In Division III boys, Coach Kirk Bunn and his North Adams Green Devils (12-4) are the #5 seed and will be on their home field on October 19 at 6 p.m., matching up with the #12 seeded Portsmouth Trojans (7-7). That game is a Division III sectional final title so the winner will move on to the district semis on October 25, facing either #4 seeded South Point, #13 seeded West Union or #20 seeded Wellston, whoever of those three teams that survives their sectional bracket.
“We are probably where we should be on the brackets,” said Coach Bunn. “I thought we might go lower dues to the losses we had to Georgetown, Lynchburg and St. Joseph but we still played strong against all three of them. That shows the respect that our team has in the district. A 3,6 or 7 seed would have been nice to get out of the bracket with Wheelersburg but to be the best you have to beat the best if we get to that point. One game at a time!”
Seeded #8 in Division III will be Coach Stone Crothers and the Peebles Indians (8-7). The Indians will have a sectional final at home on October 19 at 6 p.m., facing off with the #9 seeded Valley Indians (3-8-1). A sectional title win there for Peebles advances them to the district semifinals on October 25, where they would probably battle #1 seed Wheelersburg at a site to be determined.
Also in Division III boys sits one of the most improved teams in the Southeast, Coach Tom Wuest and his #13 seeded West Union Dragons (6-5-2). The Dragons will host first boys soccer home tournament game in years when they will face off in a sectional semifinal on October 17 at 6 p.m. with #20 seeded Wellston, a team that the Dragons have already beaten this year. If the Dragons take that first game, they will gladly make the long haul to South Point to meet the #4 seeded Pointers for the sectional championship on October 19,
“We are glad to be hosting a tournament game in West Union for the first time in a number of years,” said Coach Wuest. “We will be looking forward to playing Wellston again, as we beat them previously in the season (at Wellston) 6–2.”
You can follow all the tournament soccer action only in the sports pages of The People’s Defender and all of the Southeast District soccer tournament brackets can be found at https://www.ohsaa.org/Southeast-Sports-Tournaments/Soccer-Girls and at https://www.ohsaa.org/Southeast-Sports-Tournaments/Soccer-Boys.
