Doug Williamson continues to leave his mark on the Dublin Scioto High School girls soccer program.
The second-year coach realizes that wins are important, but his focus is on the players maintaining 100 percent commitment and effort.
"We want to just keep improving, keep playing hard," Williamson said. "I'd love to have a winning record again. We toughened up the schedule. We could actually play better and not have a winning record. We want a winning record if we can."
The Irish were 4-3-1 overall and 1-1 in the OCC-Cardinal Division before playing Worthington Kilbourne on Sept. 19. Scioto had won two of its previous three games before playing the Wolves.
The Irish visit Jerome on Oct. 10 in what could be a key OCC-Cardinal matchup. The Celtics have won five consecutive league titles.
Scioto lost to visiting Coffman 3-0 on Aug. 31 in a game in which the Irish trailed just 1-0 past the midway point of the second half.
"I hate to lose. I don't want to call it a good result, but it was another great effort," Williamson said. "Now the objective is to play that way in every game."
Scioto opened league play by defeating Delaware 2-1 on Sept. 5. Maddie Salvator scored both goals and goalkeeper Brianna Rogers had seven saves to lead the Irish.
"Brianna is playing extremely well," Williamson said.
Williamson said his team had scoring chances, but couldn't convert in a 1-0 loss to Hilliard Darby in a league game Sept. 12.
Rogers had six saves for the Irish, who lost 9-0 to the Panthers last season.
"A lot of it was effort," senior midfielder Mady Suba said. "We picked up our effort level this year. Also, the team environment this year is a lot better, so we're better at encouraging each other to work hard, play smart and play composed."
Brianna Jordan and Allie Vogel each scored two goals in a 7-0 win over Ready on Sept. 14.
"We've improved a lot and the coaching is a big part of that," senior defender Maggie Harter said. "It's very positive and people want to be here. I feel more comfortable. (Williamson) knows soccer very well. He's probably the best coach I've had in terms of being able to let people know individually as well as a team what they need to work on. He definitely cares about the program."
Boys golfers win
final OCC round
The boys golf team won the fourth and final round of the OCC-Cardinal tournament Sept. 13 at Clover Valley
The Irish shot a 291 to edge Jerome (293). Thomas Worthington (310) was third, followed by Kilbourne (331), Hilliard Bradley (336), Darby (345) and Delaware (373).
It was the Irish's first win in the league tournament in coach Todd Hardesty's four seasons.
"I supposed stunned is the best word," Hardesty said. "We had been playing better golf, but nobody goes from a 328 average to 291. The math is easy. If everybody shoots a low round on the same day, good things happen. It's huge."
Braytton Krock shot a career-best 67 to earn medalist honors. Also scoring for Scioto were Matt Magno (73), Nic Rath (75) and Nathan Tacosik (76).
The Irish went 18-6 in the league to place third, behind Jerome (23-1) and Thomas (19-5) and ahead of Kilbourne (11-13), Bradley (7-17), Darby (6-18) and Delaware (0-24).
Girls golfers finish
fourth in league
The girls golf team finished fourth in the OCC-Cardinal tournament at 10-14, behind Jerome (24-0), Delaware (19-5) and Bradley (17-7) and ahead of Kilbourne (7-17), Darby (4-20) and Thomas (3-21).
Scioto finished fourth (441) in the fourth and final round of league play Sept. 12 at Cooks Creek, behind Jerome (317), Delaware (399) and Bradley (401) and ahead of Darby (445), Kilbourne (489) and Thomas (no score).
Breanna Santosa shot an 88 to lead the Irish.
Boys soccer team
seeking first win
The boys soccer team was 0-8 overall and 0-2 in the OCC-Cardinal before playing Kilbourne on Sept. 19.
The Irish lost to Darby 4-1 on Sept. 12 and fell to Reynoldsburg 4-1 on Sept. 16.
Connor McClellan scored against Darby and Ty Snyder scored against Reynoldsburg.
fdirenna@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekFrank
SchedulesBelow are the coming schedules for the Scioto cross country, field hockey, boys golf, girls golf, boys soccer, girls soccer, girls tennis and girls volleyball teams:
CROSS COUNTRY
Sept. 23 -- Boys: Bob Reall Invitational at Lancaster; Girls: Celtic Clash Invitational at Jerome
FIELD HOCKEY
*Sept. 25 -- At Olentangy Orange
Sept. 27 -- Home vs. Columbus School for Girls
BOYS GOLF
Sept. 23 -- Toledo St. John's Titan Cup Invitational at Maumee Bay
Sept. 26 -- Grove City at Pinnacle
GIRLS GOLF
Sept. 25 -- Worthington Kilbourne at Tartan Fields
Sept. 26 -- Thomas Worthington at Mentel Memorial
BOYS SOCCER
Sept. 21 -- At Olentangy
Sept. 23 -- Home vs. Beechcroft
*Sept. 26 -- Home vs. Thomas Worthington
GIRLS SOCCER
Sept. 23 -- Home vs. Cincinnati Landmark Christian
*Sept. 26 -- At Thomas Worthington
GIRLS TENNIS
Sept. 26 -- Home vs. Wellington
Sept. 27 -- Home vs. Hilliard Davidson
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
*Sept. 26 -- At Hilliard Darby. The Irish lost to the Panthers 25-22, 21-25, 25-16, 25-19 on Aug. 29.
*League contest