By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
Piedmont will have its shot at revenge.
The Lady Wildcats got a pair of goals from star forward Jordan Hahn and an assist each from Mallory Esau and Ali Daugherty as the Lady Wildcats rolled into the Class 5A soccer state finals with a 2-0 win over Coweta on Tuesday night at F&M Bank Stadium.
The Lady Wildcats didn’t feel like celebrating their second consecutive semifinal victory for too long after the clock struck zero, though. Piedmont’s players and coaches snapped some photos to commemorate the win over the Tigers, but there wasn’t much interest in a prolonged victory lap.
The Lady Wildcats (12-5) had already turned their attention to a looming matchup with archrival Bishop McGuinness (13-0). The defending state champions beat Bishop Kelley 1-0 on Tuesday evening to setup a rematch of last season’s title game won by the Irish, 1-0.
“We already have,” coach Brad Brucker responded when asked when his team would shift its focus to McGuinness. “It’s the game everyone thought was going to happen. They took care of business and so did we. I couldn’t be happier for our girls.”
Hahn’s goal-scoring mastery carried PHS into its second title game appearance since the program’s inception in 2011. She broke a scoreless tie in the 36th minute with a header off a well-placed corner kick from Daugherty.
In the second half, the University of Central Oklahoma commit put the game away with an unlikely goal on a shot that sailed from the far-right side of the field, over the keeper’s outstretched arms and into the upper-lefthand corner of the goal.
Piedmont takes a 1-0 lead on a header from Jordan Hahn (36’) off a perfect corner in from Ali Daugherty. #OKpreps pic.twitter.com/dopx4TftwN
— Blake Colston (@CBlakeColston) May 10, 2023
“I had good balls in from my teammates and just finished,” she said. “It was all (my teammates), really.”
Hahn, a junior, has scored a team-leading 21 goals this season.
“Jordan is the main target and everyone knows it and they still can’t stop her,” Brucker said.
The championship game will be played Friday night at Newcastle. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. Last year’s title tilt between McGuinness and PHS was played at Taft Stadium in Oklahoma City.
The Irish won that game, 1-0, and have won seven straight versus PHS overall, including a 2-1 decision earlier this season. Those results won’t matter in the next game, Brucker said. Hahn agreed with her coach.
“We’ve wanted this rematch forever. We’ll be ready,” she said.
The start of the game was delayed by almost an hour while the teams waited for officials to arrive.
