43
Physical Howland handles Lakeview
Photo
Lakeview’s Matt Pasternak (2) fights for control of the the ball with Howland’s Kyle Watson (4) during their match Thursday at Lakeview High School, Cortland. The Tigers downed the Bulldogs, 3-1.
Junior Marlon Szczepaniak scored twice for the Tigers
By Tim Cleveland
CORTLAND
Football teams try to be as physical as possible with their opponents in an effort to intimidate them and throw them off their game. Thursday night, the Howland boys soccer team didn’t intentionally do so against Lakeview, but its aggressive style of play paid off in a 3-1 victory, the Bulldogs’ first defeat of the season.
“We were trying to play more of a possession ball because we knew that Lakeview would be very physical,” Howland coach George Stevens said. “They kind of drew us into that a little bit. It was a good win for our guys.”
Despite Howland committing 25 fouls during the game, Lakeview (9-1-1) suffered the game’s biggest penalty as junior Matt Pasternak, one of the area’s best players with 13 goals, was assessed a red card for a foul on Matt Doan with 15:08 to play. The penalty not only left the Bulldogs playing with 10 men the rest of the game, he will be suspended for Tuesday’s game at Hubbard and Thursday’s home contest against Newton Falls.
“We knew it was going to be an intense game,” Lakeview coach Nate Mailach said. “They’re bigger and stronger than us in almost every position. I’m still a little bit baffled by that red card.
“The ball was waist high. [Pasternak] swung to try and clear the ball down the field. The kid ran and jumped right in front of him. He whacked him, but I don’t know how you give a red card on a ball that’s a 50/50 ball. Yeah, he whacked him, but that’s just a very harsh decision by a very good referee. I don’t know where he came up with that one.”
Mailach was clearly disgusted about being without Pasternak for the next two games.
“You lose your best player, and probably district player of the year, for the next two games, which are both league games,” he said. “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board.”
A pleasant surprise for Howland (7-1-3) was junior Marlon Szczepaniak, a recent call-up from the junior varsity squad. He scored his first two career varsity goals, his first coming with 22:12 left for a 2-0 lead, and the second for the game’s final goal with 1:12 left.
“Oh my God, it feels so good,” Szczepaniak said. “I don’t even know what happened. I was screaming and yelling after that one. I wasn’t expecting the second one. That one just really surprised me.
“After that game, I feel like I could do much more for this team.”
Despite being down one player for the final 15 minutes, Lakeview got on the board with 10:31 left as Colton Ainsley scored his 14th goal of the season, putting in a penalty kick.
Despite the defeat, Mailach said he’s pleased that his team hung in there in the second half, especially after losing Pasternak.
“We played with a lot of heart,” Mailach said. “We’re not going to let these guys walk all over us in front of this huge crowd.”