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Howland girls shut down Lakeview
By KEVIN CONNELLY
HOWLAND
Field conditions were less than ideal at Howland Middle School, leaving the Lakeview girls soccer team stuck in the mud for most of the afternoon. Howland’s offense out-shined the Bulldogs by a final score of 5-1 on a day there was little sunlight to be found.
Alli Pavlik, the area’s most prolific goal scorer, was held off the score sheet for the first time all season. The Tigers knew they had to focus on her.
“We wanted to shut down their main players, Alli and Abby,” Howland’s Jordan Entler said. “They were our main focus and once we did that we were able to score way more easily.”
Entler was a major factor in the scoring outburst for the Tigers (7-1). Already up 1-0, Entler dribbled down the right side and lofted a ball toward the net. She admitted after the game that her intent was to cross the ball to a teammate, but it ended up going right over the keeper’s head and into the top of the net.
“None at all,” Edler said of the chances she thought that was going in. “When it went in I was just as shocked as everybody else.”
Then, with just over 15 minutes left in the first half, Edler connected on a cross to Kayla Watson, who had slipped behind her defender to scored on a second effort after the shot was initially stopped.
Lakeview (8-3-1) managed to score before the end of the first half to cut the Howland lead to 3-1. However, 4:18 into the second, Ashley Seem put the Tigers back up by three goals.
Seconds later, Abby Pavlik’s penalty shot was blocked by Howland goalie Monica Kotyuk to preserve the lead and swing momentum back in favor of the Tigers.
“It was great because we had been talking about that,” Tigers coach Joe Megyesi said of shutting down Lakeview’s top scorers. “We were concentrating on that and on my defense right now because of [injuries], I had all juniors and freshman in there so I was proud of them.
“They came around and played pretty good.”
As for the conditions, an already sloppy field because of overnight rain turned from bad to worse as a light drizzle began to fall late in the first half. Both teams said their play was affected by it, but not completely changed because of it.
“They were difficult for us, but they were difficult for Howland too and they managed to put five goals up on the scoreboard,” Lakeview coach Shawn Varley said. “We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities and against a good team like Howland that’s going to hurt you.”
The Bulldogs will have to regroup and prepare for Champion on Wednesday. The Golden Flashes played them to a 1-1 draw in their first meeting this season.
Howland will use Saturday’s result as a momentum builder as the Tigers get ready for a rematch against Canfield.
“Let’s face it, with the remaining games I want to go and start getting ready for the tournament,” Megyesi said. “I definitely do want to win Canfield, but we’ll see how that goes.”
Major matchups
Howland and Lakeview aren’t the only two area teams with big games on the schedule for this week. Champion will host LaBrae on Monday in a girls Division III showdown, while the Maplewood and Badger boys teams put their one-loss records on the line on Thursday.
Also on the boys side, Howland will travel to unbeaten Lakeview for a Thursday night match.