ASHLAND — Madison accomplished something in the first half that none of Ashland’s first five opponents were able to pull off.
The Rams did it twice more in the second half for good measure.
All-American Taylor Huff scored a pair of goals as Madison cruised to a 3-0 win over the Arrows in Ohio Cardinal Conference action Thursday evening.
The three goals were the first allowed by Ashland in six matches. The Arrows (5-1, 1-1) had outscored its first five opponents by a combined score of 17-0.
“It was definitely motivation for us,” said Huff, who gave the Rams a 1-0 lead when she unloaded a right-footed laser shot with 24:32 remaining in the first half. “We came in with a lot of energy.
“My dad (Madison coach Zac Huff) said get the first goal, so that was our first objective. I think it brought a lot of momentum for us.”
The Rams (4-0-1) took a 2-0 advantage early in the second half when Kari Eckenwiler scored off a pass from Kalie Blaising. Huff triggered the sequence with a pass to Blaising.
“It got passed to Kalie and then she sent a through ball,” Eckenwiler said. “I was just there at the right time.”
A sophomore, Huff iced it with her second goal with 16:56 remaining.
“She just has another gear than most girls and you saw it in the second half there,” Zac Huff said of his daughter. “That third goal was something else.”
Ashland out-possessed Madison by a two-to-one margin and had 17 shots, compared to 12 for the Rams. The Arrows took five corner kicks while Madison had just two.
“We had plenty of opportunities tonight. I think we had a significant time of possession (advantage),” Ashland coach Trent Heckman said. “We were able to move the ball. We just didn’t put it in the back of the net.
“We can either dwell on a 3-0 loss or we can pick up and press forward. Are we going to learn from it? Absolutely. Are we going to dwell on it? No.”
Both Madison and Ashland were ranked in the top 10 in this week’s Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association state poll. The Rams were seventh in Division II and the Arrows were fifth in Division I. Additionally, Ashland was fifth nationally in the Maxpreps rankings.
“We knew coming in they just beat the No. 1 team in West Virginia (Winfield) and they were pretty high ranked in the state,” Taylor Huff said. “We definitely wanted to beat them.”
