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Fitch girls hope to win in league farewell
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Fitch senior midfi elder Kristen Schmidt (4) fi res a shot down into position during Wednesday’s game against the Uniontown Lake Blue Streaks at Fitch’s Falcon Stadium in Austintown. Schmidt’s two assists helped to pave the way for the Falcons’ 3-0 win, a victory that helped them regain some critical ground in the Federal League.
By Jon Moffett
Austintown
Fitch senior midfielder Kristen Schmidt went to the corner of the soccer field three times for free kicks.
After her first attempt sailed right into the side of the net, the next two curved perfectly into position for her teammates to head them in for scores, just like she had practiced.
Sort of.
“We don’t really practice those, actually,” Schmidt said. “I was just very proud that the kicks were in the spots they were supposed to be in, and I was glad there was a girl there to knock them in.”
Schmidt’s two assists helped pave the way for a 3-0 victory over Uniontown Lake at Falcon Stadium on Wednesday night. The win helped the Falcons (7-1-3) earn some critical ground in the Federal League after a heartbreaking loss to Massillon Jackson earlier in the season.
The Falcons improved to 2-1-1 in the conference, and want to make a lasting impression in their final season as members.
But practiced or not, head coach Carlo Trafficante said plays like those corner kicks are crucial in big games.
“I think our last game we scored twice off of set pieces too, so we feel pretty confident with those,” he said. “Those are very dangerous, and come tournament time, when there are real close games, a lot of them come down to set pieces.”
The first goal came about midway through the first half. Schmidt lined up at the corner and curved it into the waiting forehead of Tori Koch.
Later in the half, the Falcons scored on a long pass from Jen Shiley to Jayme Ritchie. The team took a 2-0 advantage into the half.
And with 28:04 left in the second 40-minute half, the Falcons scored again on a corner when Schmidt connected with Emily Durina.
The Blue Streaks (6-6, 1-4) struggled early. They had just three shots on goal the entire game. Fitch had 20, including the corner kicks.
Head coach Les Drinkwater said he saw a lot of positives out of a young team that started five freshmen.
“I thought they played really well, and didn’t give up,” Drinkwater said in his thick English accent. “Sometimes when we’ve gone a goal down we’ve given up, but tonight we didn’t. It’s always tough with young kids, because they tend to let their heads hang down, but they didn’t tonight.”
While the Blue Streaks struggled to put the ball into scoring position, Shiley and the Fitch defense were strong.
Shiley manned the center defender position, and was flanked by sister Kaitlyn and Lexi McWreath. Behind them was goalie Ali Tolich, who stopped all three shots taken by Lake.
“Our whole defense talks to each other and is really close,” Jen Shiley said. “And with our strong midfield, we have a lot of fun.”
Shiley said even though the team won the Federal League Championship in 2008, the Falcons are even more pumped to win it again in their final try. She knows the loss to Jackson takes them out of the driver’s seat. But she thinks they’re at least still in the car.
“We have 10 seniors on this team, and we just want to win this so bad,” she said.