Local Sports Journal
The Orchard View girls soccer team finally solved its Oakridge curse.
Two years ago the Cardinals lost to Oakridge in the district semifinals. Last year they fell to the Eagles in the finals.
But Orchard View standout Amanda Skidmore made sure there was a happier ending for her team this time around.
The three-time All-Stater scored with 14 minutes remaining in the game, giving Orchard View a 1-0 win over Oakridge and a Division 3 district championship.
”I definitely don’t feel like we reached our potential the last couple of seasons, so it’s nice to feel like we finally played to the best of our ability,” said Orchard View coach Burt Wachter, whose team improved to 13-4 on the season.
The Cardinals advance to the regional semifinals Wednesdayagainst Ludington, a Lakes 8 conference rival they have beaten twice this season. The 5 p.m. game will be at Reeths-Puffer High School.
“we’ve got good reason to believe that we can beat Ludington, since we’ve done it twice this year, but on the other hand it’s hard to beat a good team three times,” Wachter said. “It’s just one game at a time for me. We’ve got a great bunch of girls and I’m just enjoying the ride.”
The game was scoreless unit the 26 minute mark of the second half.
Orchard View’s Kaylee Harrell was bringing the ball down the center of the field when the Oakridge defense collapsed on her. But Harrell managed to get a slick pass to Skidmore, who ball-handled around the Oakridge goalie and tapped it in.
It was Skidmore’s 20th goal of the season.
Goalie Megan McFarland got the shutout for Orchard View.
“She didn’t have a very heavy workload today,” Wachter said. “Our defense was stellar.”
Oakridge, the West Michigan Conference champion, saw its two-year district title streak come to an end. The Eagles finished the season with an 11-3-1 record.
The game marked the second time Oakridge lost to OV this year, by identical scores.
The Eagles were stymied by a lack of offense, managing only one shot on goal, compared to Orchard View’s five.
“Most of the season we’ve struggled getting shots, so this was no big surprise,” said Oakridge coach Jeff Lohman, whose team was a state semifinalist two years ago and a regional finalist last season.
“But we had a good year. We only lose two seniors, so we have a lot coming back, and we have some studs coming up from the eighth grade, so we’ll be ready to go next year.”
