West Branch girls soccer ties Salem 2-2 in Eastern Buckeye Conference showdown

SALEM — West Branch and Salem battled for 80 minutes at Sebo Stadium on Wednesday night in a girls soccer match that would decide the Eastern Buckeye Conference championship.

It turned out, nothing was really decided. The teams played to a 2-2 deadlock, meaning the Quakers (9-2-1, 4-0-1) clinched at least a tie for the EBC title. West Branch (10-0-2, 3-0-1), ranked No. 10 in this week's state coaches poll, play host to Carrollton next Wednesday, needing a win to share the championship.

West Branch has won eight consecutive Northeastern Buckeye Conference and EBC crowns.

"It is great to compete against West Branch," said Salem coach Matt Freeman. "They are the standard in our conference. They are the standard in our area.

"I am thrilled with the way that the girls played tonight," he added. "They played with a lot of heart. We talked about going out and making a mark on our program and they did that tonight."

Mikaylynn Murphy scored both goals for Salem. Chloe Dennison and Sarah Bungard scored for the Warriors and Lauren Gossett had an assist. Zoe Sanders made four saves for West Branch.

"It was a very competitive game," said Warriors' coach Cheryl Ficco. "Both teams always come into the West Branch-Salem rivalry game wanting to play their best, and that is what we saw tonight. Two very good teams fighting for every ball."

The final score was actually an anomaly based on the defensive performances of both teams this season. Entering the game West Branch had allowed just seven goals all season and Salem had surrendered just 12.

Dennison scored unassisted in the second minute of the match. Her early goal in the 2021 meeting held up in the Warriors' 1-0 victory.

Wednesday night, however, Salem rallied after both West Branch goals. Murphy's first score came on a penalty kick in the eighth minute.

After that the teams settled in. The Quakers' main threat, Rylee Hutton, battled with West Branch defenders Alexis Gregory and Sam Koneval.

"Alexis and Sam are very smart defenders," said Ficco. "They have done this before and work together very well to neutralize a threat and they have done this all season."

West branch had a chance to re-take the lead in the 40th minute but a penalty kick was just off the mark.

"We felt that we matched up with them pretty well on defense and the midfield," said Freeman. "We wanted to play a more direct style and get the ball forward. They have a real good midfield and a great front line so we wanted to get the ball out of there and not let them settle it."

Bungard's go-ahead goal came in the 65th minute.

"We started the game strong and then both teams settled in," said Ficco. "We made some adjustments at halftime and played a good second half."

The Quakers scored the equalizer in the 75th minute with Murphy scoring on an assist from Hanna Gaither.

"We played a very strong second half. We created some chances and took the lead. Unfortunately, we left a girl unmarked on the back side and it cost us," said Ficco.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: West Branch ties Salem 2-2 in Eastern Buckeye Conference soccer