DIVISION I GIRLS SOCCER Young Harding team no match for Howland

Sarah Mangiarelli scored three goals to lead the Tigers in a 6-0 romp.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
HOWLAND -- Nicole Anderson, Warren Harding's first-year girls soccer coach, said she was "playing against family" in a Division I sectional tournament game Tuesday against host Howland High.
But that didn't make the Raiders' 6-0 loss to the Tigers any less unpleasant for Anderson, whose father, Gary Anderson, is the Howland coach, while her fiancee, Marc Fritz, serves as one of Gary's assistants.
"Howland (9-2-6) was attacking," said Nicole, "Howland has a little more speed [and] was able to finish.
Nicole didn't technically lose to her father -- Howland assistant Dennis Opritza filled in for Gary, who was out of town on business.
But she said she did lose to a friend and former mentor because Opritza used to be her coach in club soccer.
"We are a young team," she said. "That's part of the problem. We only have two seniors."
Too talented
Harding's biggest obstacle was Howland's talent, speed and aggressiveness, said Opritza, who formerly coached Howland before shifting to Canfield and then back to Howland as an aide.
"The biggest difference is the overall skills level of our players," Opritza, who previously had Gary as an assistant at Howland. "Our team speed was too much for them. We've got some aggressive players up front."
Opritza said Howland's midfielders were advancing the ball to the forwards in an "outstanding" way.
"We set up a lot of goals," he said. "The midfielders [did] get the forwards to go," he said.
Junior Sarah Mangiarelli scored three goals to lead Howland, which will play host to Niles at 1 p.m. Saturday in a sectional final. Niles advanced with a 1-0 win over Canton GlenOak Tuesday.
Erin Gilmour, Darcy Quinlan and Rachel Albani each contributed one goal for Howland, while Quinlan and Christine Mancini had two assists each and Alissa Thomas and Valerie Nuzzi one assist apiece.
The Tigers struck quickly when Gilmour scored on an assist from Mancini with only 24 seconds off the clock.
Opening it up
Harding held Howland scoreless for about 20 minutes before Quinlan, taking a pass from Thomas, caught the Raiders' goalie way out of position and tapped an easy dribbler up the middle into a vacant net at 20:08.
After Harding finally managed to get off its first shot and miss at 18:52, Quinlan found Mangiarelli, who advanced about 40 yards before scoring to give the Tigers a 3-0 halftime lead.
Mangiarelli made it 4-0 at 37:00 from about 10 feet out on another pass from Quinlan, and repeated at 27:18 from about the same distance on an assist from Mancini.
Albani capped the scoring at 18:06 from about 15 feet out on an assist by Nuzzi.
Considering Howland's numerous shots, Harding goalie Ashley Elder did well by getting 29 saves.
Howland goalie Amy Cornicelli had three saves while Quinlan, who relieved Cornicelli late in the game, had one save.