Ashland Defeats Lexington in High-Scoring Soccer Match, Securing First Win at Lexington Since 2011
LEXINGTON, OH – Ashland High School’s boys soccer team earned a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Lexington on Tuesday night, marking their first win on Lexington’s home field since 2011.The Arrows overcame two separate two-goal deficits, ultimately securing the win with a late goal and strong goalkeeping performance.
The victory is a notable early-season boost for Ashland, demonstrating resilience and offensive firepower. For Lexington, the loss provides valuable lessons as a young team navigates a challenging schedule.The match highlighted the growing competition within the area’s soccer landscape and sets the stage for continued rivalry between the two schools.
Lexington battled back from being down two goals twice in the match. Lane Weber scored with 1:11 remaining, turning on a defender and blasting a shot past Ashland goalkeeper Justin Pancake.However, Ashland had previously built a lead through a penalty kick and a goal from within the six-yard box.
“Pancake is Pancake,” Ashland coach Hosler said. “He’s a senior, starter for three years, it’s just what he does. He knows his box, he knows his area well, and he’s going to come up big.” Hosler acknowledged Pancake conceded on the penalty and the close-range goal, but praised his overall performance throughout the game.
Despite the loss, Lexington coach Them was pleased with his team’s response. “I thought we figured out who we are a little bit,” Them said.”We’re young around the edges, a lot of inexperience, and some of these boys haven’t played in a game with this intensity. I think we learned a lot tonight. Can we grow from this? Did we get better tonight? I think we did … but every game means something,so we got to fight every night.”
Ashland’s Jonah Coffee was dispossessed by Lexington’s Carter Downs during the match. (Zachary Holden/news Journal)