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Extremely late goals create tie between Canfield, Howland
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ONE AGAINST ONE: Nate Merhaut, left, of Canfield and Ethan Kuszmaul of Howland battle for the ball during Tuesday's soccer match at Canfield.
By Jon Moffett
Connor Gilmour and Nate Merhaut found the back of the net in the 1-1 stalemate.
CANFIELD — It took more than 75 minutes for a score, but one goal was all it took for the Canfield boys soccer team to stay even with rival Howland.
The majority of Tuesday’s game was scoreless, and it looked to be a defensive shutout on both ends with four minutes remaining in the game. But Howland forward Connor Gilmour, a freshman, ended the scoreless streak when his shot hit the back of the net with 3:57 remaining.
Instead of admitting defeat and succumbing to a loss, Canfield managed to rally back and added a score of its own.
Nate Merhaut, a senior, kicked in the tying goal with 1:15 left. Merhaut ran down the sideline after scoring, which got the crowd back into the game.
“It wasn’t me, it was the whole team,” Merhaut said. “I was just the lucky one to put it in.”
Merhaut’s goal notched a tie for Canfield, but took a victory off of the board for Howland.
“That was a fantastic shot that they had,” Howland coach George Stevens said. “I give Canfield a lot of credit, they didn’t quit, they kept coming. They’re a very good team this year ... they’ve played very well this year.”
Canfield coach Phil Simone also noticed his team’s desire to stay in the game.
“It was a hard-battled game on both sides,” Simone said. “Going down by a goal with three minutes left and our boys coming back showed a lot of heart. It was a great effort on their part.”
The stalemate marked Canfield’s third consecutive draw, and fourth of the season. Canfield’s record moved to 1-1-4. Howland is 2-1-2.
Simone said his team is close, but are coming up slightly short.
“We just need that little extra oomph to get over the edge. We’re staying in games; we’re playing some great teams and staying right there with them. If we can just get up over that hump I think we can really do something special,” Simone said.
Simone admitted the team has struggled on offense recently, but added the defense stepped up.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit scoring, but they’ve been scoring,” Simone said, “so for us to hold them for 70-some minutes is great for us.”
Tuesday’s game was the first of two this season for the teams. Last season, the teams tied twice.
“This has become a great, great rivalry,” Stevens said. “I look forward to playing Canfield and Coach Simone [again].”
Howland will look to improve on their record as they play host to Ursuline on Thursday. Canfield travels to Hubbard and looks to break its streak of ties. Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m.