Powell's two goals net Madison sectional championship win over Ashland

MADISON TOWNSHIP — When Madison senior Ellie Powell stepped on the Rams’ home soccer field one final time, she knew she wanted to make the night memorable.

>And she didn’t disappoint.

>In the Rams’ 2-1 Division III sectional championship win over the Ashland Arrows, Powell scored both of her teams’ goals helping Madison advance to the district semifinals.

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>“She is a gamer,” Madison coach Rob Kershner said. “She has always been like that. She steps up in the big games like this. Ellie Powell always steps up for her team.”

>After Ashland took a 1-0 lead with 30:48 left in the first half, Powell scored the equalizer less than three minutes later when she finished off a perfect pass from Avery O’Brien to even things up at 1-1, where the score remained through halftime. She scored her second with 26:27 left in the match off of a pinged around corner kick that found her feet as she lofted a goal to the back post for the eventual game-winner.

>“On the first one, I just looked up, saw an opening and fired away to put it in,” Powell said. “The second one was complete shock. I just threw it up there hoping it would do something and it went in. I am glad because we really wanted this win.”

>Especially since it was her final game on the home field she has made many memories on over the last four years along with senior teammates.

>“I have been playing with my senior teammates for a lot time and it means a lot every time I can take this field with them,” Powell said. “It means a lot to get the win and keep playing together as long as we possibly can. I feel like we are peaking at the right time so we just have to keep it going.”

>

>After grabbing the 2-0 lead, the Rams turned the game over to its defense headlined by Addyson Powell, Maci Whitesel and Caliyah Clapper.

>“Our defense played lights out when we needed it to the most,” Kershner said. “That is a huge plus for us moving forward because we are going to need it at its best from here on out.”

>Madison (10-8-0) now moves on to play Ontario (15-1-2) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at Lexington High School in the district semifinals.

>“We played them before and we feel like we have grown a lot since that game, so we are excited to play against them again,” Powell said. “If we play with the same excitement and drive that we played with tonight, I think we will be fine.”

>The Warriors won the first meeting 2-0 back on Aug. 25.

>“We are not the same team we were the first week of the season and I am not the same coach,” Kershner said. “We have all grown so much since that last game and we have come together a lot. We played a tough schedule this season with Olentangy, Granville, Lexington, Ontario, Clear Fork and some very tough teams. We are ready and looking forward to the opportunity.”

>This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Powell's two goals net Madison sectional championship win over Ashland