Howland’s comeback kids

High School soccer tournaments

Tigers rally for 2-1 tourney win over Fitch

By DOUG CHAPIN

Vindicator correspondent

HOWLAND — Though it looked like things were going its way, the Howland High boys soccer team found itself trailing 1-0 early in the second half Wednesday night in a Division I sectional tournament game against Austintown Fitch.

But the Tigers (9-4-4), who beat Fitch 3-0 earlier in the season, showed patience and resolve, rallying for a 2-1 victory over the Falcons (4-12-1). Howland advanced to a sectional final Saturday night at fourth-seeded Green.

“I think we kept playing steady soccer for the most part,” Howland coach George Stevens said about his team’s reaction after it fell behind. “We were striking the ball well and I didn’t see anybody running out of position trying to take over the game.

“The best part of our game traditionally is possession of the ball, moving the ball. We’re trying to get the defense out of position and then take advantage of that.”

The Tigers tied the game with 29:01 remaining on a goal from sophomore Connor Gilmour on a laser shot into the lower right corner of the net from about 30 yards out.

Junior midfielder Scott Heinemann tallied the game winner with 24:16 remaining when his shot from the top of the penalty area went through the hands of Fitch goal keeper Chris Platton.

It was unfortunate for Platton because throughout the game he was brilliant. The sophomore recorded 15 saves including at least four which looked like sure goals for Howland.

“Chris is only a sophomore and he played a great game,” Fitch coach Tim Walsh said. “Sometimes you get those freshman and sophomore mistakes and he had it go through his hands. But it had to go through everyone else, too, to get to him.”

When the Falcons took the lead, it was against the run of play. Howland held an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal in the first half and began the second half with two off-target attempts in the first two minutes.

Then senior forward Cameron Francis got behind the Fitch defense on a breakaway and was stopped only when Mike Ventura reached out and grabbed Francis’ shirt. Ventura was issued a red card and the Falcons played a man down for the final 36:29 of the game.

Less than a minute later, Fitch led after senior Anthony Savko blasted home a free kick from 20 yards out at the 35:32 mark.

The Falcons kept up the pressure, getting another good scoring opportunity with about 34 minutes remaining. However, it appeared playing a man down began to wear on the Falcons as they were outshot 13-1 the rest of the way.

“We had an excellent free kick by Anthony Savko, I think that’s his 10th goal of the year,” Walsh said. “The kids played hard, they have nothing to be ashamed of. I’m very proud of them, they did a wonderful job out there tonight.”

Howland finished with a 25-9 edge in shot attempts, including 18-4 in shots on goal. Robert Daniels had three saves for the Tigers.

Stevens said he thought the two Howland-Fitch games were similar.

“The first game we had a penalty kick, otherwise we scored two goals in each game,” he said. “Both games were very evenly played. Austintown has a lot of young players, so the more they played during the season the better they got.”