SETTING THE SCENE: After scoring a win and a tie against two of the area’s top-five teams last week, the Milford High School girls soccer squad is back on the pitch this week with match-ups against two more quality opponents. Following losses in two of their first three contests of the year, the Eagles bounced back in a big way last week, playing defending conference champion Turpin to a scoreless tie and then pulling off an upset of perennial power Mason, a win that was five years in the making. Having now evened their season record at 2-2-1 (0-0-1 ECC) the Eagles will play a pair of matches inside the friendly confines of Charity J. Lucas Stadium this week against Walnut Hills and Springboro.
THE UPCOMING DOCKET: A look at Milford’s schedule for the upcoming week:
- Tuesday, Sept. 6 vs. Walnut Hills, 7:00 p.m.
- 2016 Record: 4-1-0, 1-0-0 ECC (10th Division I area coaches’ weekly poll)
- Top Scorer: Junior Kiley Keehan (6 G, 1 A, 13 pts.)
- Last Meeting: 2015; Milford 1, Walnut Hills 1
- Series History: Milford leads 9-2-3
- Saturday, Sept. 10 vs. Springboro (at Eagles Stadium), 7:00 p.m.
- 2016 Record: 3-1-0, 2-0-0 GWOC
- Top Scorer: Sophomore Kam Davis (7 G, 3 A, 17 pts. each)
- Last Meeting: First meeting
- Series History: None
A LOOK BACK: Aug. 30 at Turpin: Milford went toe-to-toe with last season’s Eastern Cincinnati Conference Champions and ended up with a 0-0 tie at Turpin on Aug. 30. This incredibly marks the fifth straight season the two teams have played to a tie.
Sept. 3 vs. Mason: The Eagles picked up a huge victory on Sept. 3 as they upset Mason by a 1-0 score at a sun-drenched Charity J. Lucas Stadium. Junior Bryn Rolfsen found the back of the net for the match’s only score with approximately 30 minutes remaining in the second half. The win pushed the Eagles past the area’s No. 2 ranked team in this week’s Cincinnati Enquirer area coaches’ poll for the first time since the 2011 regular season.
INSIDE THE ECC: During the first week of conference play, Loveland and Walnut Hills were the two Eastern Cincinnati Conference squads that opened with victories, with the Eagles and Turpin playing to a tie in the other league match-up.
A look inside the ECC statistics shows junior Bryn Rolfsen tied for eighth among league player with five points, while also showing tied for seventh with a pair of goals. The Eagles’ assist leader is freshman Ali Claus who is tied for fourth with a pair of helpers already in the early goings of this season.
POLL WATCH: With the tie against Turpin and win over Mason, the Eagles have clawed to the top team also receiving votes in this week’s Cincinnati Enquirer Division I area coaches’ poll, released on Sept. 6. Eastern Cincinnati Conference heavyweight Loveland is this week’s top squad once again with 15 of the 21 first place votes. Oak Hills took second on the strength of five first place votes, with ninth place Lebanon earning the final top nod. The rest of the top-five features Mount Notre Dame, Mason and Turpin. The ECC is also represented by Walnut Hills in a tie for sixth, with Anderson and Kings joining Milford in the others receiving votes category. The coaches’ poll is released every Monday at Noon at preps.cincinnati.com/coachespolls.