Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Champion’s Maylee Nadaud (left) and Taylor Kuhn celebrate together during the Flashes’ 6-1 win over Lakeview in the district semifinal. Naduad recorded a hat trick, while Kuhn scored a goal.

CHAMPION — On Aug. 24, Champion and Lakeview faced off early in the season, and the Golden Flashes came away with a narrow victory.

Champion’s attack and goal-scoring ability have come a long way since then. In 19 games this season, the Flashes have now scored 129 goals, an average of 6.8 per game.

After scoring just a single goal in the first meeting, Champion poured it on Monday night in the district semifinal, putting six goals past the Bulldogs in a 6-1 victory to remain undefeated at 19-0 this season.

“Everybody’s just comfortable in their positions,” Champion head coach Emily Metheny said. “They’re really just finding their spots and building as a team. They’re trusting one another, and starting in the backline and going all the way to the front, everybody’s showing up and able to combine and get their shots off when they need to.”

Lakeview has seen first-hand the kind of attacking options that the Flashes have, having faced them now twice this season.

The Bulldogs were aggressive right from kickoff. Trying to push the ball forward, they registered two shots inside the first minute of the match. But once Champion obtained possession, it didn’t take long for the Flashes to break through and capitalize, as Grayson Knoske opened the scoring for Champion in the second minute on a breakaway.

Still, Lakeview was able to pull things back level in the seventh minute, as Annabelle Humphrey knotted the match at 1-all off a corner kick. But from there the floodgates opened for the Flashes.

“Champion played a great game today, and I just wish them the best of luck the rest of the tournament,” Bulldogs head coach Anna Paolucci said.

Maylee Nadaud pulled Champion back in front for good in the 10th minute, putting away a loose ball off a scrum in front of goal after a corner kick. Nadaud notched her second goal of the game just six minutes later to give the Flashes a 3-1 lead.

In the 24th minute, Taylor Kuhn added to Champion’s total by pouncing on a misfired pass by Lakeview’s defense. Then, with three minutes till halftime, Nadaud completed a hat trick by putting away a penalty kick after a Bulldogs foul in the box.

“That’s what happens when everybody steps up, no matter what grade they’re in,” Metheny said. “Nobody wanted this to be their last game.”

In the second half, Knoske scored her second goal of the game on another penalty kick to complete the scoring for the Flashes.

Before the season even started, Champion set a goal of getting back to the district final for the first time since 2020, when the current senior class were just freshmen.

With the win, the Flashes have realized their goal and advance to the district championship on Thursday to face Poland, which beat Springfield 4-1 on Monday in the other semifinal. But, now that Champion is here, the Flashes are hungry for a district title.

“The girls came in (Monday) with unfinished business from last year,” Metheny said. “Everybody showed up and did their jobs. They played as a team, as a family and came out on top (Monday). They were calm, they didn’t have nerves and knew they had the confidence to come out (Monday) and get the job done. And that’s exactly what they need to do (again) come Thursday.”

For Lakeview, the season comes to a close, as the Bulldogs finish 12-5-1 after earning third place in the Northeast-8 Conference.

“I think my girls had a great season,” Paolucci said. “We’ve only had 15 girls all year, and we made it this far without any injuries or anything like that. But with only 15 girls, you have to play the same 11 on the field every day, so they’re worn out.”

nmadhavan@tribtoday.com