43
Boardman sophomore’s hat trick too much for Fitch to overcome
Photo
Fitch’s Lauren Bower (19) tries to keep the ball from Boardman’s Breana Crenshaw (20) during the Division I sectional final Thursday in Boardman. Alison Green powered the Spartans to a 5-1 victory over the Falcons with three consecutive goals.
The Boardman sophomore’s hat trick is too much for Fitch to overcome
By Tom Williams
BOARDMAN
Two months ago, the Boardman High girls soccer team opened the season with a 4-2 loss to Austintown Fitch.
Sophomore Alison Green made sure the Spartans’ season didn’t end the same way.
In Thursday’s Division I sectional final, Green scored a natural hat trick to power the Spartans to a 5-1 victory.
“Alison is a great young player,” said Spartans junior Nikki Hillard who had a goal and an assist. “She has a great future to look forward to, playing the way she is.”
Boardman (9-7-1) advances to play at Green in Tuesday’s district semifinal game.
Green’s first goal came 26 seconds after the opening whistle on a fluky play that saw the ball trickle slowly into the net.
“I thought I was offsides,” Hillard said. “It was kind of like a mistake on my part, but the ball was still in play and Alison followed through all the way.
“She kept going — the whole defensive line [must have] thought it was offside, that’s why they completely stopped. That doesn’t happen very often.”
”The celebration was unusual.
“As soon as she scored, I just turned around and laughed — I thought it was funny,” Hillard said. “It was a surprise, but it was an awesome feeling.”
Hillard’s assist came on Green’s second goal just before halftime.
“It was like a little give-and-go between us,” Hillard said. “She had it on the side and passed it to me. I had it in the middle and went around a couple of people and then I heard her call out ‘corner’ so I was hoping she was there.
“It was one of those praying kind of passes — it went right through two [defenders] and she was right there to put it in.”
Despite the score, the Falcons (8-8-2) dominated the early play, producing several good scoring opportunities. Spartans goalkeeper Kristen Huck was equal to the task. Seven of her 11 saves came in the first half.
After her third shutout of the season, Huck said she received a boost from Green’s early tally.
“It’s just the best feeling in the world, knowing my team can help me out,” Huck said. “I get so excited, I just want to run up there and high-five everyone.”
Huck said the rematch was not similar to the opener.
“The first time we played Fitch, it was a slow-moving game,” Huck said. “This time, there was a lot of action in the back. It was a little bit scarier, but it was better.”
Fitch’s best-scoring chance early came on a corner kick. Lauren Bower’s header bounced off the crossbar and over the net. Later, Kaelyn Puhalla’s solid shot went off Huck’s hands wide of the net.
Huck credited SueJude Hamdan and Sara Strawinski for strong play.
“They’re great defenders, they helped me out so much,” Huck said.
The Falcons maintained pressure until Green broke free midway through the second half and scored. Twenty seconds later, Hillard tallied on a similar breakaway. Sophomore Alexis Cailor had the other goal.
Jayme Ritchie scored Fitch’s goal with 7:28 to play. Goalkeeper Jessica Scott made six saves.