Photos by Steven Wright | Greene County News
Greeneview girls soccer head coach Nikki Hurley (left) and Legacy Christian head coach Shawn Woods (right) exchange lineups and speak prior to the start of Tuesday’s Division V regional semifinal tournament match.
FAIRBORN — Tuesday’s match was not the first time Shawn Woods and Nikki Hurley faced off across the sidelines from one another.
It had only been 30 days since the brother-sister siblings had their girls soccer teams square off in what was a compelling regular season draw.
This time the game involving their teams had much bigger ramifications with a spot in the regional finals on the line. And the coaches appeared to be more on edge than their players in the moments leading up to the contest.
“I’ve been nervous,” Hurley said. “They have a great team but just having to play my brother, that kind of adds another spin on things.”
Both coaches are still applying their stamps in leading their respective programs. Hurley has been heading the program at Greeneview for a few seasons, and Woods is completing his first year with Legacy Christian.
The two have seen their girls produce plenty of success this year, as both won the first district championships in their program histories. Greeneview set a new record for wins in a single season, and LCA has tied the mark it set last year. The teams earned the top two seeds in the North region of the D-V Southwest District bracket, and both entered Tuesday’s match in the top five of the MaxPrep state rankings for D-V schools.
And all the success they had leading in didn’t make the matchup any less awkward for either of them.
“It’s just a weird experience,” Woods said. “She and I have talked probably more this year than we have in the last few years just because we’re busy and what not. But this has us talking and we can bounce ideas off of each other and things like that. But that means I have a pretty good idea of how she wants her plays to play and I’m pretty sure she knows how I want mine to play.”
“It’s not an ideal situation,” Hurley said. “I think we would have rather met later on, how about at state would have been more fun. It is what it is because we’re in the same region and the same district. We knew it was eventually going to happen, but was hoping it was not this soon.”
Both had to have pride, with a little bit of irritation mixed in if their facial expressions could speak, at the quality of play their teams once again displayed in an exciting regional semifinal game.
Woods said the two wouldn’t let the game get in way of caring for one another, but having to play against someone they both have spent their entire lives near had him echoing Hurley’s frustration that the matchup had to take place. It wasn’t possible for their teams to both advance and have a chance to win state championships. On this night, someone was going to end up the winner.
Woods had his Legacy Christian team prevail by a 4-3 score.
“Thanksgiving will be interesting, that’s for sure,” he said.
Check out more photos from the match between Greeneview and Legacy Christian.
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
