WALES — Oak Hill is looking to become more offensive.
The Raiders took a step in that direction Friday, edging Mountain Valley 2-1 victory behind freshman forward Grace Behne’s two goals.
“We have been working on our passing and being more aggressively offensively, and not have just a defensive mindset,” Oak Hill coach Lexi Fuller said. “Sometimes I think they get so worried about not letting a goal in — they forget they have to score a goal. They have been working really hard in practices and some of our other games to work on that offensive mindset.”
Behne said Friday’s win will help the Raiders going forward.
“I think it’s a very big confidence boost for us,” Behne said. “We’ve only had two wins this season. So, especially having a homecoming game, having our fans supporting us on our home field is very nice.”
Oak Hill (3-5-1) controlled the possession of the ball for most of the first quarter, but scoring wasn’t easy.
Madalyn Sikora, also a freshman, had a shot go wide of the cage five minutes into the game. Behne had two opportunities to sweep the ball into the cage, but the Falcons defenders cleared it out of harm’s way late in the opening quarter.
On a penalty corner a short time later, Izzy Whitaker’s shot from the circle was deflected into the cage by Behne, giving the Raiders a 1-0 advantage nearly 14 minutes in the first quarter.
“My coaches always tell me to stick my stick out; the worst-case scenario, it goes out,” Behne said. “It has to touch the stick in the circle; I am glad I tipped it to go in.”
Oak Hill goalie Sierra Lane made five of her six first-half saves in the second quarter. She stopped two grade-A chances early on, then, later in the period, stopped a couple of shots on the ground with Falcons (3-5) shooters digging for the ball.
Lane said it was important to be for the Raiders to be in the lead at halftime.
“It felt really good; it helped boost the confidence of everybody on the team,” Lane said. “We had a lot of confidence going into the second half.”
Lane made seven more saves in the second half for a total of 13 in the game.
The Falcons had a few corners early in the third quarter, but Lane and the Raiders defense cleared the ball each time.
On Mountain Valley’s third corner of the third quarter, Mallorie Bourrett sent a hard shot into the circle and Melina Byam redirected it past Lane midway through the third to tie the game 1-1.
Behne responded in the final minute of the third. Mountain Valley goalie Brooke Brown made the initial save, but Behne put home the loose ball to put the Raiders back on top, 2-1.
“I am very proud of all of my forwards and middies who helped me get down there to score,” Behne said. “They did an amazing job.”
Oak Hill almost scored again before the buzzer, but Brown made two solid saves to end the third.
Fuller told the Raiders to get the insurance goal going into the fourth quarter.
“The message was we can’t give up,” Fuller said. “You got to keep fighting; don’t back down — you still have to play your game.”
But Brown (18 saves) continued her strong play in the fourth quarter by stopping multiple shots off Raiders’ penalty corners.
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