SOCCER Fitch weathers Boardman and rain

The Falcons finished second in the Federal League.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
AUSTINTOWN -- A muddy field and sheets of rain forced the Austintown Fitch High girls soccer team to adjust their normally aggressive playing style to something more conservative against Federal League rival Boardman Wednesday night.
While the transition wasn't seamless, the Falcons did just enough to earn their 10th victory of the season, 2-1.
"The weather definitely took us out of our game, which is to play a possession-type style," said Fitch coach Carlo Trafficante. "Because of the wet field we had be more conservative and not try to win some balls that we normally would go for. If we miss those and the ball skips by us, then they get a 1-on-1 chance on our goal."
With that in mind and Fitch leading 2-0 heading into the second half, the Falcons' defense tightened up to make the advantage stand, despite a barrage of Boardman shots on goal in the final 40 minutes.
Early lead
Fitch jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead just four minutes into the contest when Amanda Sprowl hooked a shot into the back of the net past Boardman goalie Lani Vlad.
Junior forward Jodi Bowlen got into the act with 14:32 remaining in the half, when she kicked in a rebound off Vlad to put the Falcons ahead 2-0.
It was the 25th goal of the season for Bowlen and the 61st of her career, both school records.
Boardman didn't go away in the second half, pounding a number of shots at Fitch keeper Cara Calai. The sophomore was up the challenge for the most part, recording 15 saves. But one did get in.
Nine minutes into the second half, Boardman senior Lauren Sirak ripped a shot that Calai knocked away, but Danielle Deley scored on the rebound to trim the Fitch lead to 2-1 with 30:53 remaining in the contest.
Not enough
The goal also gave Boardman some momentum which it parlayed into more scoring chances. But despite the opportunities, the Spartans were unable to cash in on their 23 shots.
"We did everything pretty well, except score," said Boardman (6-9, 4-3) coach Fawzi Mujahed. "We missed some goals we could have had, but we weren't able to finish. We don't have enough forwards that can finish, so we have to pull up our midfielders to try to score.
"Fitch always has a good team and we were competitive with them tonight. We had six players out with injuries or sickness, so I'm proud of how the girls played."
The Falcons improved to 10-3-3 overall and 6-1 in the Federal League. With Massillon Jackson's 2-1 victory over North Canton Hoover Wednesday, the Polar Bears won their second straight league title with a 7-0 record. Fitch finished second with a 6-1 league mark -- the only loss a 6-4 setback to Jackson.