Monday, August 25, 2008
By Jon Moffett
Despite losses to graduation, the Tigers are off to a strong start this season.
HOWLAND — The realignment of area athletic conferences hasn’t shaken up the Howland High girls soccer team.
The Tigers improved to 3-0 with a victory over Medina Buckeye Saturday. Head coach Pat Hovance credits the team’s success to the veteran leadership;
“We’re lucky to have a senior class of 13 players,” Hovance said. “They all are very good for the team and chemistry.”
Hovance, who is in his fourth season as head coach, said that senior leadership has helped offset some key losses to graduation.
“Even though we have 13 seniors, we lost six or seven starters [from last year], so I wasn’t sure how this year would go,” said Hovance. “But we’ve competed hard in the preseason.”
One senior in particular has shown the competitive spirit the Tigers represent. Megan Long, who had been the team’s leading scorer in each of the past two seasons, gave up her position of scoring forward for a less glamorous position.
Hovance said Long, who will attend Iowa State next fall, moved to center back for the team’s 4-3-3 system. The 4-3-3 features four defensive players, three midfielders and three forwards.
“She’s irreplaceable,” Hovance said of Long. “We wouldn’t be the same team without her leadership.”
Long and the Tigers dominated the former Metro Athletic Conference for the past five seasons. Howland is now a member of the All-American Conference, but will face similar rivals such as Canfield, Poland and Niles in the Red Tier.
Victories over Boardman and Austintown Fitch, as well as Saturday’s victory over Medina, have given the Tigers a lot of confidence for the season. The Tigers will host Hathaway Brown, the defending Division II state champions, on Friday.
Hovance said one of the reasons the team is successful is the quality depth from the underclassmen.
“We’ve had some really good competition from the underclassmen,” Hovance said. “We have a lot of girls who play two or three sports, so athletically we’ll be tough to stop.”
Hovance said some players to watch include seniors Abby Nicholas (forward), who has scored a goal in each of the three games, Kelley Drew (midfielder), juniors Gina Albani (forward) and Jessica Wilson (forward) and sophomore Gina Wall (defender).
Hovance said all of the players on the roster contribute to the team effort.
Hovance also credits his coaching staff for being crucial to the team’s success. Assistants Mark Wilson, Al Seman, Dave Tricomi and Jack Baer are all “fantastic assistants who help out a lot,” Hovance said.
jmoffett@vindy.com