LEXINGTON — Nevaeh Lewis stomped on the accelerator Wednesday night.
Lewis, Madison’s lightning-quick senior forward, scored two goals as the Rams rallied for a 2-1 win over Clear Fork in a Division II district semifinal match at Lexington High School.
Madison (11-4-4) will play Ontario for a district championship at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lexington. The Warriors beat Lexington 2-0 in Wednesday’s early game.
The Colts took a 1-0 lead on Melodie Blubaugh’s highlight-reel goal with 23:11 remaining in the first half. The junior midfielder took a pass from Kyleight Washington and changed direction several times before send a left-footed shot to the back of the net.
“This season a lot of times we gone down 1-0,” Madison coach Jordan Monica said. “It wakes us up.”
Lewis scored the equalizer with 12:21 to play in the opening half. She took possession of the ball near midfield and sped past the Clear Fork defense before finishing with her right foot.
“I got the ball near midfield and I just out-ran a couple of defenders,” Lewis said. “That one kind of woke us up and gave us some energy.”
Lewis’ game-winner came with 14:36 remaining in the second half. Brynn Kiley sent a pass down the left flank that Lewis tracked down and sent past diving Clear Fork keeper Renee Anders.
“I made sure I stayed onside and told Brynn to split the play,” Lewis said. “I just tapped it in with my left foot.”
The rest was up to Madison keeper Jaden Pifher. The senior made several outstanding saves as the Colts (12-4-3) turned up the heat in the final 10 minutes.
“I believe in my defense,” Pifher said. “They are the best defense I’ve had in four years of high school.”
Clear Fork coach Brittany Bechtel was impressed with both Lewis and Pifher.
“Give props to Madison. They’re keeper played light’s-out and Nevaeh is one tough cookie,” Bechtel said. “We knew coming in she was the golden ticket to getting out of here. She got the best of us twice.
“We had a plan coming in and … I feel like we executed the best that we could. The girls played extremely hard and we had our opportunities.”
Madison won five straight district championships from 2017 to 2021.
“Now we get ready for Ontario,” Monica said. “We just need to come out and play like we know how to play.”