By Eric Frantz For The Dayton Daily News

XENIA | – On a night when conditions dictated play, Northmont coach Walt Slade instructed his team to use the adverse weather to its advantage.

"I told the girls before the game that due to the conditions we had to shoot anytime we had an open shot," Slade said. "It didn't matter where they were they had to shoot it because the ball could do anything."

Heeding their coach's order, the fifth-seeded T-Bolts outlasted host and second seed Xenia 1-0 in double-overtime in a Division I, Dayton 1 district semifinal match Monday.

The win advances Northmont (14-3-2) to Thursday's district final against the winner of the Carroll-Wayne match, which was postponed from Monday until 7 p.m. tonight due to wet grounds. Xenia finishes the season 12-4-3.

Northmont sophomore Sara Seitz ended the contest with a goal at the 6:59 mark of the second overtime. Seitz's shot, from 20 yards out, skipped across the saturated ground before finding the lower left corner of the net.

"I thought (the shot) was going to hit the post, but it went in," Seitz said.

Added Slade: "We got her the ball and she got turned and hit it. It skipped a little bit, but we'll take it."

Seitz's score ended a game influenced by cold and wet conditions that made the playing surface more like a swamp than a soccer field. Balls constantly got bogged down by mud and many times throw-ins slipped out of hands.

The shutout was the T-Bolts' 10th in 11 games. Since losing to Beavercreek on Sept. 15, Northmont has rattled off 11 straight wins, outscoring the opposition 41-1 in the process. Through three district contests, the T-Bolts have yet to surrender a goal.

View Article at DDN