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Lordstown girls advance past Columbiana

LORDSTOWN — Senior captain Cadence Lickwar netted a hat trick in the first half to lead the Red Devils over Columbiana, 4-1, in a girls soccer Division III sectional bracket final on Thursday.

The cold temperature didn’t bother No. 1 seed Lordstown (14-1-2) as it advanced to the Niles District semifinals. Lordstown will play host to South Range on Monday at 5 p.m.

“I think they actually prefer the cold weather over the heat,” Lordstown coach Matt Kresic said. “It was a good game. The first half was really solid. The second half, they kind of let off the gas a little bit. I’m glad we got through to the next round. It was a good first win.”

A three-sport athlete, Lickwar also letters in basketball and track. She used her athleticism and speed to score an early goal for a 1-0 lead. Ten minutes later, she fired a point blank shot with such force it bounced off of Clippers goalie Autumn Chuey’s hands into the back of the net. Lickwar added another score, with some fancy footwork, to make it 3-0 Devils, heading into halftime.

“It was pretty cool to start off a tournament game like that,” Lickwar said. “It not only makes us feel good, but it makes other teams worried about us. I think that gives us an edge coming into the game.”

After beating Valley Christian, 1-0, in the first round, No. 9 seed Columbiana (3-7-3) once again looked to upset the higher seed. The Clippers came out firing to start the second half.

Junior Grace Hammond seemed determined to get the Clippers on the board. She drew Lordstown goalie Abigail Slaubaugh (3 saves) out of net and attempted a shot, but Hammond blocked on a heads-up play by Devils sophomore Kirsten Stelt.

Five minutes later, Hammond would not be denied, driving the ball into the goal, to make the score 3-1.

“We were underdogs in the first game, and we tried to do it again today,” Columbiana coach Olivia Murphy said. “To be able to come in against a team like Lordstown, and score a goal, I couldn’t ask for anything more as a second-year coach.

“I’m proud of what they were able to do. Lordstown hasn’t let many goals in this season. It was definitely a heated match the whole 80 minutes. I’m glad we had enough energy to play them hard.”

Lordstown added an insurance goal when freshman Sarah Schneider made a nice assist to junior Lexie Ensign. Ensign broke out ahead of the defense to notch her 30th goal of the season.

“I think we just played fantastic,” Ensign said. “We worked together. We passed the ball. It was amazing. We worked as a team, and won as a team.”

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