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Tigers on Top Again
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Poland’s Griffin Marr (25) and Howland’s Matt Hardaway (22) battle for the ball during Thursday’s All-American Conference American Division game at Howland.
Howland edges poland to win AAC American crown
By Steve Wilaj
HOWLAND
With less than eight minutes remaining and the game tied, Howland High soccer player Kyle Watson reared back and threw the ball into the middle box.
It bounced loose for a couple seconds — although it seemed like a couple minutes — until the Tigers’ smallest player made the biggest play of the game.
“It was just bouncing around in there,” Watson said. “Somehow, our shortest guy, Domenic Mariano, got his head on it and put it past their goalie.”
With Mariano’s goal in the 72nd minute, Howland took a 2-1 lead that held up as the final score Thursday night, as the Tigers defeated Poland to capture the All-American Conference American Division championship.
“It feels awesome,” Watson said. “We haven’t done it in a few years, so to get back here and win it this way is amazing.”
Howland coach George Stevens said it was especially satisfying defeating such a worthy opponent for the AAC crown.
“This year, the conference was very competitive,” he said. “You can’t ask for much more than two teams playing for the conference championship in the last game. Our guys can enjoy this one now and I wish Poland the best of luck.”
Trailing 1-0 late in the second half, the Bulldogs’ Cameron McCreary tied the contest with 13:01 remaining.
“McCreary hit a good shot,” Poland coach Brian Garcar said. “It gave us a little bit of momentum and gave us a second breath. At that time, we picked up our play for the next couple of minutes, but eventually Howland put that second one in.”
Garcar said the Bulldogs (11-4-1, 5-3) tried to prepare for Howland’s game-deciding goal.
“We tell our guys to mark up and stay as tight as you can in case the ball squirts through or takes a funny hop,” he said. “Give them a lot of credit because they wanted it a little bit more on both of their headers.”
Watson put the Tigers (11-1-4, 5-0-3) on the board with 37 seconds remaining in the first half. The senior took a pass from Adam Mazey and headed it past Poland goalkeeper Bryan Montgomery.
“I just played it like a corner kick,” Waston said. “Mazey had a good kick and I just found the back of the net.”
Stevens said the Tigers were prepared for a tough challenge — and that’s exactly what they got.
“It was well played on both sides,” he said. “Our kids kept their composure and tried to maintain possession of the ball, and did a good job of it.”
Bowden added that, while he wants his kids to enjoy the victory, they’ll soon have to shift their focus to Wednesday’s tournament matchup with Stow.
Garcar also doesn’t want Poland to dwell on its frustrating loss.
“We have a good chance in the tournament,” he said. “We’ll heal up, rest a little bit, practice for the next week and just get excited about our second opportunity.”