Schermer’s Hat Trick Powers Badin Past Batavia And Into D-III District Final
Badin High School's Avery Schermer (left) celebrates a goal with teammates Lucy Nieman (22) and Bella McFarland (18) in a Division III district girls soccer semifinal against visiting Batavia on Oct. 26, 2026, at the Matandy SportsPlex in Hamilton. Badin advanced with a 3-0 victory.
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By Rick Cassano
HAMILTON – Avery Schermer kept finding herself in just the right spot Monday night.
The Badin High School senior, in her first season as a forward, knocked in three goals as the Rams recorded their sixth straight shutout by ousting visiting Batavia 3-0 in a Division III district girls soccer semifinal at the Matandy SportsPlex.
“I’ve never scored three in a game … amazing,” Schermer said. “It didn’t really hit me until the end of the game that I just did that. It was pretty awesome.”
Ava Borg delivered three assists and Morgan Byrne collected eight saves in goal for fourth-seeded Badin (10-7-2), which hasn’t allowed a goal in a month.
The Rams will be gunning for their fourth consecutive district championship at 7 p.m. on Thursday when they face top-seeded Vandalia Butler (15-4) at Middletown.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Badin coach Chris Slusher said. “I love where we’re at right now. I love these girls. They’re mentally strong and physically strong. The way they’ve persevered, it’s been incredible.”
His crew started the season 1-5 and the injury bug has been persistent throughout the fall, but the Rams are finally mostly healthy. Only midfielder Audrey Rhodis was out with an ankle injury Monday, and Slusher is hopeful that she’ll return to action soon.
“I don’t think people understand how tough our schedule was and what we had to go through,” Slusher said. “Some girls were out, but other girls got opportunities and they really shined in those moments. It made us a deeper, better team. Their attitude was always good. Even when we were losing, they always thought we’ve just got to get better and keep moving on.”
Schermer is a longtime defender that got moved up top this season, and she’s responded with a team-leading nine goals.
Her three scores against fifth-seeded Batavia (12-6-1) all came from close range. When balls didn’t get cleaned up by the defense or freshman goalkeeper Laila Meyer, Schermer was there to tap them in.
“I think tonight showed there’s a reason why we put her up top this year,” Slusher said. “She’s a smart player. She made the right runs and put herself in the proper position to be dangerous, and she finished on her opportunities. She’s definitely a presence out there.”
It’s the first hat trick for a Badin player since Braelyn Even did it Oct. 18, 2022, in a 14-0 tournament win over Dayton Stivers.
Schermer’s first goal came with 19:17 left in the first half. She then scored twice in the opening 3:04 of the second half, taking just 28 seconds to make it 2-0.
“Just daggers to the heart right there,” 14th-year Bulldogs coach Drew Poling said of the second-half tallies. “There’s no other way to describe it. It just takes the wind out of your sails.”
There’s no question the Rams had the better run of play most of the evening, but as it so often goes in soccer, just a little bit of good fortune for Batavia could’ve made it a much different game.
Averie Layman had a couple quality chances to score and rocketed a shot of the crossbar on a free kick with about a minute remaining in the first half.
“That’s the way soccer is,” Poling said. “Even with the wide margin, the girls kept battling. They didn’t quit. They didn’t give up on each other.
“Badin taught us some things and what we need to continue to work on as a program to get better. The touch was the killer in this ballgame for us, our touches and our decision-making and our high turnover percentage. Part of it was the pressure from a good opponent like that.
“They deserved it. They were the better team tonight. I wish them all the best in their tournament run.”
Meyer made 11 saves in goal for the Bulldogs, who haven’t had a losing season since 2016 and won their fourth straight Southern Buckeye Athletic & Academic Conference American Division title this year.
Batavia will be losing four seniors – Layman, Melody Miller, Audrey Maillett and Chelsea Slaughter.
“Honestly, we were expecting a pretty tough game,” Schermer said. “Our headspace was like anything and everything we have to do to win, we’ll do it. Even towards the end when the momentum slowed down, we still felt like we had that edge.”
The Rams haven’t allowed a goal since losing 1-0 to Mariemont on Sept. 26. Slusher said the back-line play of Bella Heile, Danielle Birri, Rylyn Reynolds and Zoe Wolpert has been impressive.
“Our defense is starting to really come on strong,” Slusher said. “The chemistry that they have as a unit is fantastic, and our midfielders are doing a really good job of winning balls and possessing. Once we get Audrey back, we’ll be at full go for the first time all year.”
Badin didn’t give up a goal in Greater Catholic League Coed Division play this season, yet ended up second behind Kettering Alter. The Rams finished 3-0-2 – the Knights were 4-0-1.
“It’s unbelievable that we didn’t lose a game and didn’t give up a goal in league and finished second,” Slusher said. “That doesn’t make sense to me, but soccer’s a cruel game sometimes.”
Badin and Butler last played in 2024 when the Aviators topped the Rams 3-1 in a regional title match at Miamisburg. The Badin-Butler winner will face either Ross or Dayton Carroll on Nov. 3 in a 7 p.m. regional semifinal at Princeton.
