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Athleticism, speed are key to Howland success
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HOWLAND - POLAND - (5) Gina Albani of Howland and (19) Jeana Visingardi of Poland battle for the ball during their game Thursday night.
By Jon Moffett
The Tigers are 8-0-1 with a tie against Hathaway Brown.
HOWLAND — The Howland girls soccer team doesn’t have the best players.
At least, that’s what coach Pat Hovance says about his squad.
“We’re not blessed with probably the best ‘soccer’ players,” Hovance said. “But these girls find a way to win.”
And the Tigers are winning.
Howland is undefeated this season with an 8-0-1 record. The only imperfection is a tie to Hathaway Brown, the defending Division II state champion.
Hovance said the team makes up for not having the best players by having some of the better athletes on the field.
“They play with a lot of heart and they’re just very gifted athletically,” Hovance said. “I wish I could get more of them to play soccer year-round, but they’re two- or three-sport athletes, so we’ll take what we can get.”
Senior forward Gina Albani said the key to this team is their athleticism.
“I feel like we’re really good athletes,” Albani said. “We have so much speed and talent and we never give up. We’re starting to turn into better soccer players and all the time we’ve been putting in is really paying off.”
Albani leads the team in goals, and has noticed how the offense is clicking.
“We’ve been working so hard practicing and playing together,” Albani said. “I feel like we deserve it. We’ve taken so much time to practice our shots and they’re finally going in. I just hope we can make it through the whole season like that.”
Albani said she takes extra time outside of practice to work on shooting. She added that this year’s team is special because of how well they play together.
“I feel this year we communicate really well and have a bond,” Albani said. “I just hope it takes us all the way to the end to win the whole thing.”
One example of the versatility for Howland is senior goalkeeper Megan Long. After leading the team in scoring for the past two seasons, Hovance moved Long to the goal to have more experience in the defensive backfield.
“We decided that we had to have her back there to be in these games and she just takes care of everything,” Hovance said. “She’s pretty much irreplaceable.”
Long’s presence has brought about stability and consistency to the Howland defense.
Hovance said the players’ versatility is what makes the Howland program so successful.
“These are the same girls who win basketball games here and softball games, track meets, they just play all those different sports,” Hovance said. “We’ve been blessed here at Howland.”
The Tigers visit Lakeview for their next game tonight at 7.
jmoffett@vindy.com