Madeline Grutza takes a shot toward the goal in the girls’ 38th District championship game on Oct. 8, 2025.
The 2025 38th District runners-up, the Mason County Lady Royals.
The 2025 38th District champions, the Harrison County Fillies
The Mason County Lady Royals and Harrison County Fillies took to the pitch Wednesday night to compete for the 38th District girls’ soccer championship.
After defeating both the Fillies and Pendleton County Lady Cats in the regular season, Mason County entered the district tournament as the number one seed, earning a bye for the semifinal round. For their part, Harrison County scored a 3-1 win over the Lady Cats before advancing to the championship, eager to stake their claim as district champions over the Lady Royals.
Neither the Lady Royals nor the Fillies were willing to go down without a fight, as both teams’ defenses successfully held off the opposition’s strikers for the first 40 minutes of play. Despite several attempts from both teams, the game remained tied 0-0 as they heading into halftime.
“First half, we did really well. We had not too many adjustments, but just kind of were more aware of certain players, certain things. There really wasn’t a lot changed; honestly, from one half to the next it was just ‘Try to get it down there to the goal and try to get something in,’” said Lady Royals head coach Amy Cottam.
The Lady Royals kept the pressure on Harrison County in the second half, determined to sneak one past Fillies’ goalkeeper, Greenlee Maners.
After a back-and-forth battle that lasted another 40 minutes, the game remained tied 0-0 at the end of regulation, sending the game into a five-minute, sudden death overtime.
“Into overtime, it was just, get one in. That’s all you need. It’s a golden goal overtime and you just pop it in, and it ends it all,” Coach Cottam said.
After five minutes, neither team had scored, moving the game into its second overtime period. Another scoreless overtime then pushed the game into a penalty kick shootout, with both teams’ top five strikers told to land the ball in the net.
After the first round of penalty kicks, both the Lady Royals and Fillies had scored two goals, keeping the game tied and sending them into another round of penalty kicks, now sudden-death.
Mason County’s goalkeeper, Eden Abshire, stood waiting, preparing to block Harrison County’s shots.
“It’s tough. It’s a mentally tough position to be in, even without the PKs, because you know you’re gonna get scored on. Basically, your job at that point is to at least try to save one. She saved three. She did above and beyond, it just didn’t fall our way tonight,” Coach Cottam said.
Unfortunately for the Lady Royals, an unmatched goal by the Fillies secured the win for Harrison County. After holding off the Fillies through 80 minutes of regulation, 10 minutes in double-overtime and two rounds of penalty kicks, Mason County still remains without a 38th District championship.
“They left it all on the field. You can’t ask for more,” Coach Cottam said. “We had over 25 shots on the goal, dominated most of the game. It’s a shame it came down to this, but my hat’s off to them. They played with a lot of grit, they played with mental toughness, they played together. They did everything we asked them and that’s all you can do as a coach. I’m really proud of the way we played, we just didn’t come out with the win.”
With this loss behind them, the Mason County Lady Royals enter the 10th Region girls’ soccer tournament as the 38th District runners-up and will take to the field in Harrison County next week in the quarterfinals against a team yet to be determined.
