Lexington's Buck Morton picks up win No. 100 as girls soccer coach

LEXINGTON — Lexington girls soccer coach Buck Morton is most comfortable standing on the sidelines of a soccer pitch watching his team perform and win games.

But on Thursday, Oct. 8, after a 2-0 win over Madison that clinched Lady Lex the 2026 Ohio Cardinal Conference championship, Morton was never more uncomfortable in his coaching career.

Lexington gets its redemption with 2026 OCC girls soccer championship

As the two teams were finishing up going through the handshake lines, a stream of Morton’s family members came walking toward the bench holding a homemade banner commemorating his 100th career victory as Lexington’s girls soccer coach. A moment that was supposed to be all about his team winning a league title was also shared with a major milestone victory and Morton was in the spotlight, exactly where he never wants to be.

“No body is crazy enough to do all this for this long,” Morton said with a laugh. “The biggest thing for me is allowing myself to reflect and look back at all the great kids we have had come through the program from my very first year with three seniors to now a great class of six seniors. That is what it amounts to for me. The 100 wins is a lot of time, effort and work on the part of the players, not me. We have had so many girls who left everything on the field for Lady Lex Soccer, not Buck Morton.”

Nearing the end of this 10th season as the girls coach at Lexington, Morton is now 100-59-23. Combine that with his 157-79-23 record in 13 seasons as head coach of the boys soccer team from 2000-2012 and Morton owns a 257-138-46 overall record and is a rarity among high school coaches to win more than 100 games in both boys and girls soccer, each.

“It has been good,” Morton said. “I started with outstanding athletes who were driven on their own and somehow react really well to great encouragement from myself and the greatest assistant coach in the state of Ohio in Roxanne Drueschler. This is all about being blessed. This is nothing 10 years ago that was even on my radar.”

What makes Morton special is his dedication to his players and desire to make every win and every championship all about them.

“He has meant everything to me,” Lexington senior Morgan Harrod said. “He is such a devoted coach who taught me so much about the game. We, as a team, wouldn’t be here without him.”

Harrod scored both goals in the OCC title clincher. It is her second league title in three years as a member of the Lexington girls soccer team and as a player under Morton. She is thankful for his years of dedication to her success as a player.

“What amazes me is how he can look at the season one game at a time,” Harrod said. “He makes sure we are focused on that game and nothing else and gets us through it. Then, when it is over, that’s when he lets us look ahead at the next one. That’s a tough thing to do.”

In his 10 seasons, Morton has led Lexington to two league championships and two district titles, both coming in the last four years.

While 100 wins in 10 seasons is a huge deal to add to the ever-growing trophy case, Morton is simply proud to bring much-deserving attention to his alma mater.

“It brings a great sense of pride and joy for me to be able to have this accomplishment at my alma mater where I played and grew up,” Morton said. “Then to do it in this situation where we win a league championship against a rival for the 100th is really cool.”

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Lexington’s Buck Morton picks up win No. 100 as girls soccer coach