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A solid defensive effort and several key saves by senior goalkeeper Elizabeth Kellum allowed the Fairfield High School girls varsity soccer team to finish the regular season on a high note Tuesday night, Oct. 7.

Despite being unofficially out shot 20-6 by Oak Hills, the host Indians kept the Highlanders off the board in a 1-0 victory on Fairfield's senior night.

"We had to make some adjustments at halftime, but the girls just hung in there and did what they had to do to win," Fairfield coach Mark Wineberg said.

Kellum unofficially recorded 10 saves in posting the shutout as Fairfield finished the regular season with a record of 10-4-1 overall and 6-3 in the Greater Miami Conference.

"Liz has kept us in numerous games this year. She's just done a great job," Wineberg said. "She's a senior, she works hard in practice and you can tell. It shows out on the field."

The lone goal of the game came off a corner kick from junior midfielder Andrea Curry. Curry's kick was deflected by junior striker Lauren Hettinger to junior midfielder Kiersten Ottaway, who beat Oak Hills goalkeeper Kaitlynn Murphy and gave Fairfield a 1-0 lead with 24:17 remaining in the game.

"We just happened to have it down there, there was a lot of action in front of the goal and we were just fortunate enough to put it in," Wineberg said.

The Highlanders best scoring opportunity came at the 27:02 mark of the second half when sophomore Niki Handlon was awarded a penalty kick after a Fairfield foul. However, Handlon's shot was too high and the Indians would go on to post their seventh shutout of the season.

"It was huge, every senior and every player wanted it," Kellum said. "The defense is amazing, they support me and I support them."

With the loss, Oak Hills finished the regular season at 12-3-1 overall and 7-2 in the GMC. A win would have given the Highlanders a first place finish in the GMC.

"The keeper did a good job, she made a lot of outstanding saves," Oak Hills coach Chuck Laumann said. "We just didn't get the break we needed. Any of those shots we take, two inches, three inches here or there the ball is in the back of the net. They got the break on the ball that we tried to clear that deflected back into the net. Fairfield did a very good job of possessing the ball, they out skilled us, and that ended up being the difference as far as the middle of the field is concerned. We had our opportunities, we just weren't able to put the ball in the net with the opportunities we had."

Contact this reporter at dgedney@coxohio.com