Green's win has Tigers feeling blue

Howland fell to the Bulldogs in the district final for the second straight year.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
HOWLAND -- For the Howland High girls soccer team, it's not easy beating Green.
For the second straight year, Howland met the Summit County school in the Division I district tournament finale. Once again, the Bulldogs (12-3-5) rallied and are moving on to the Ravenna regional after a 2-1 victory Saturday.
"They played their hearts out," Howland's first-year coach Pat Hovance said." It's just a terrible, terrible feeling for the seniors, and all the girls.
"Many of them played in this same game last year," Hovance said. "Two times in a row, we were winning for most of the game."
Taking the lead
The Tigers came so close to earning the trip, taking a 1-0 lead with 14:26 remaining in regulation when senior captain Erin Gilmour banked a shot off the Green goal post. The ball rolled on the ground and eventually bounced into the goal.
"I thought we won the game right there," Gilmour said. "I saw it hit the keeper's hand and I got kind of scared.
"And then I saw [Melissa Kohn move in] and [the ball] was right there and then it [rolled] in," Gilmour said. "She just made sure the goalie [Stacy Messner] didn't get her hands on it. She took out the goalie, so she gets credit, too."
Freshman Megan Long assisted on Gilmour's goal.
Hovance wasn't surprised that Gilmour was the leader who scored.
"That was her taking it upon herself to make that play," Hovance said. "All year long, she's been a coach on the field.
"We're a young team, mainly sophomores. She's gotten them to play possession-type soccer," Hovance said. "With the speed of the game today, we got out of it. We played a little more kickball, unfortunately."
Rally time
The Bulldogs didn't quit. Five minutes later, sophomore midfielder Jen Sprandel tied the score with a 20-foot shot that eluded Howland goalkeeper Melissa Airhart.
Hovance thought the Tigers were in "excellent shape. We had a lot of opportunities [but] the ball bounced their way."
With 1:48 to go, Sprandel scored again, launching a shot over Airhart's outstretched arms that caught the upper right corner of the net.
"This year, we haven't come from behind to win, but we've come from behind to tie," Green coach Mandy Gamble said. "We had a lot of heart, but we've had trouble scoring all season.
"When they scored that goal, I wasn't sure that we would come back like last year. It was a similar situation, but I wasn't sure that we would come back with the same intensity and the same heart," Gamble said.
"Finally, we got some good shots. [Sprandel] had been playing earlier in the game but not getting the ball at her feet enough. She realized when it was her second chance that she needed to go as hard as she could.
"Once we scored the first goal, I felt we were going to win, even if it went into overtime. It helps to have been in this situation last year -- same team, same thing on the line."
Howland outshot Green, 6-4. Airhart made two saves while Messner made five.
Although her varsity career is over, Gilmour said she has "no regrets -- we played [well]. We did a lot better than I thought we were going to do because we are such a young team. Everyone stepped up and I thought we played a really great year."
Hovance agreed that Howland's program looks to have a promising future.
"It's very, very bright, but it's hard to talk about it right now," Hovance said.
williams@vindy.com