Girls’ Soccer

Oxford 1, Marathon 0

MARATHON – The lowest seed in the Section IV, Class C tournament is alive and still kicking – the soccer ball that is.

Oxford advanced to the sectional semifinals for the first time in the school’s history nipping number two seed Marathon Friday. It was the fourth straight win and fifth in six games for the Blackhawks (7-12), who are showing the promise their coach predicted in the preseason. “We were struggling for wins early in the season, but we’ve hit our stride at the right time,” said Oxford coach Kathleen Cragle. “We were underdogs against Delhi and extreme underdogs against Marathon. No one expected us to win, and maybe we used that to our advantage.”

Two one-touch passes led to the game’s only goal. Courtney Flanagan gathered the ball at midfield, passed to Felicia Tynan, and Tynan found Amanda Brown for the first-half tally at 25:32. It was Brown’s 11th goal of the season and believed to be a single-season team-record, Cragle said.

Amanda Nightengale made 13 saves, and Ariel Salisbury was credited on defense by Cragle for clearing a couple of balls off the goal line that would have tied the contest. “Being the only team left in our league (Midstate Athletic Conference) that is still playing is huge,” Cragle said. “It’s definitely a Cinderella story, and I hope it keeps going.”

Oxford plays Union Springs Tuesday.

Summary

(1-0 at half)