Shaker Heights stops Howland

By Doug Chapin

The 1-0 defeat was the Tigers’ only loss this season as they finished 16-1-3.

TWINSBURG — With snow still being shoveled off parts of the field just 10 minutes before game time, it seemed certain that poor weather conditions would be the story Wednesday night at the Division I girls soccer regional semifinal at Twinsburg High. School personnel cleared about 3 inches of snow from the artificial surface during the afternoon.

But to the credit of the girls from Howland and Shaker Heights, the teams played an exciting brand of soccer despite slippery footing and temperatures in the lower 30s.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Shaker Heights (15-5-1) scored the game’s only goal with 35:19 remaining in the second half. The Raiders advanced to the regional championship game Saturday.

For Howland (16-1-3), it was the second regional semifinal loss in the last three seasons. In 2006, the Tigers dropped a 2-0 decision to Massillon Jackson.

“Our girls were focused, they played their hearts out,” Howland coach Pat Hovance said. “I can’t say enough about how proud I am of this team. We have 12 seniors who have been with us for four years, committed to this program. It’s just a tough, tough way to see them go out.

“I’ve coached numerous sports, numerous years, and there has not been a better group of student-athletes that I’ve been associated with. These are good kids. They are not only good athletes, but they’re good kids, good people.”

The Tigers had the advantage for most of the first half, controlling possession for long stretches at time and generating several scoring opportunities.

Gina Albani was high with a shot from about 15 yards just 10 minutes into the game, and Sydney Perez shot over the crossbar from in close with about 15 minutes remaining in the half.

The best chance came with just over 16 minutes to play when Megan Long brought the ball up from her defensive position and put through a pass to Olivia Nicholas inside the penalty area. But Shaker Heights goal keeper Kelly Sommers was able to close on the ball and make a big save.

“I thought we had some really good scoring opportunities in the first half, it just didn’t happen, we didn’t finish,” Hovance said. “We had some chances, but our luck finally ran out. We were a little bit lucky this year in some games and at this time of the year you need a little bit of luck. It just didn’t happen for us. Take nothing away from the effort of our girls, they were all over the field.”

That certainly was true of Long who thwarted Shaker’s Kaley Shlaes on a shot with 6:32 left in the first half. Shlaes got around Howland keeper Casey Haering and fired from about 12 yards out, but Long was able to stop it.

There weren’t as many scoring opportunities in the second half for either team, but the Raiders capitalized on the one that mattered. Mary Clair’s corner kick appeared to be headed right at the goal, but Haering got in front of it. However, she wasn’t able to control the ball and Ann Marie Kelly pounced on the loose ball right in front of the net for the game’s lone goal.

At that point, the Tigers started to press for the tying goal, but still had to be able to stop Shaker Heights’ potent counter-attack game.

“You could see they [Shaker] got a lot more confident, plus we took Megan Long, our player of the year, out of the back and put her in midfield, just to get the ball on her foot a little bit more in the attacking third,” Hovance said. “We pressed a little bit and weren’t playing soccer there for a bit. We got into a little bit of a panic mode and reverted to a little bit of kickball. Give them credit, they are very well coached and have some good players.”

A free kick by Long from about 35 yards out with 31:50 remaining in the game was just high. With 22 minutes left to play, Jessica Wilson dropped a free kick from about 40 yards almost right on the penalty spot, but none of her teammates could get to the ball and it went out for a goal kick.

Long fed Kelley Drew for a shot with 13 minutes to play, but she missed wide, then Long had a chance in traffic from about 20 yards with about 1:20 left, but was unable to strike the ball solidly and her shot was saved.