By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Head coach Bill Jackson was well aware going into Waterloo’s home game on Oct. 12 against Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Division rival Warren Champion that it was going to be a huge test for his team.

Oh yeah, the game also had serious ramifications as to who will win the division.

“On paper,” Jackson said, “Champion was way ahead of us. They were undefeated and first in the division. They’re state ranked in Division IV.”

The Golden Flashes took a quick 1-0 lead, but a goal by sophomore midfielder Emma Murphy tied the score.

A goal by junior forward Koralee Jenior on a penalty kick put the Vikings ahead 2-1 at halftime.

“Emma’s goal was something we’d been working on at practice the last two or three weeks,” said Jackson. “She scored off a corner kick, a great assist by Koralee, who put the ball right in the middle, right where Emma needs it to be successful. Emma made an incredible finish. This was the first time where we really put that play in a game. It was nice to see it work.”

Waterloo upped its advantage to 3-1 on a goal by junior forward Alexis Henry.

“Alexis got the ball where she wanted it as far as an open shooting window,” said the coach. “She put enough pace on the shot to get it past the keeper’s hands. It was a tough one to handle, had a little spin on it. It was a beautiful shot.”

The Vikings went on to win 3-2. They finished the regular season with a 13-4 overall record and an 8-1 division mark.

Jackson is super excited about his team’s effort.

“It was by far our most complete game of the season,” he said. “Everybody did their part. It was just a really gritty effort. It was a physical game that we had to play hard. The girls just overcame adversity when we went down 1-0 in the first 5 minutes. They battled back, just battled all night long. They really put the pressure on Champion.”

Junior goalkeeper Abigail Roberts had three saves.

The Vikings followed it up with another win at Crestview on Thursday.

The triumph lifted the Vikes to their second consecutive Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference championship.

Jenior scored a pair of goals, as did Henry, while Johanna King added another to lead Waterloo to the championship-leading victory.

Waterloo will host the Columbiana Crestview-Independence winner on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. in a Division V sectional final.

“I really like our draw,” said Jackson. “We have a lot of matchups we like going into the tournament. We match up well with all of our possible opponents. I think you’ll see a lot of heart and a lot of hustle. Our goal is November. Every year our goal is the state tournament. I feel like if you’re playing well going into the tournament, anything can happen. Do we have enough talent? Yeah. Yeah, we do.”