Thursday, September 25, 2014
Photo
Howland’s Lydia Weisman and Boardman’s Alison Green get tangled up as they fight for possession of the ball during their girls soccer game Wednesday in Boardman. The Tigers edged the Spartans, 3-2.
Tigers hang on to edge the Spartans
By Tom Williams
Boardman
Usually when a soccer team surrenders two goals in the first 11 minutes, intensity vanishes.
That was not the case on Wednesday at Boardman High School. Howland jumped on Boardman for two quick goals, then hung on through a wild finish for a 3-2 victory.
“We played a fantastic first half,” Howland coach Joe Megyesi said. “In the second half, it got a little physical and we lost control. We lost our intensity.
“It was a good game.”
Tigers junior Morgan Scott scored on the first shot of the game. Out near the 30-yard line, Scott took a feed from Shannon McClain and fired a high shot that dipped as it approached the net, slipping under the crossbar.
Asked if she thought she had a goal as she watched the ball sail, Scott siad, “Not really.
“I just kind of shot the ball and as soon as it went over [goalkeeper Kristen Huck’s] head, I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s going in.’ ”
Five minutes later, the Tigers (9-2-0, 5-2 All-American Conference Red) led 2-0 on a goal credited to Jenn Boyd. With the Tigers pressing, Huck kicked the ball hard, unintentionally striking one of her teammates and the ball rolled into the net for an own goal.
“I really don’t think I’ve seen that happen since I was like 8,” Boyd said. “It’s the rarest thing that can happen.”
Early in the second half, with a chance to put the game away, Boyd was sprung on a breakaway and Huck stopped her with a sliding grab.
“It was a free kick off Lydia [Weisman] and it was a perfectly placed ball,” Boyd said. “I was going for a corner, but I kicked it right at her. She was in the right spot.”
Huck finished with nine saves.
“She was awesome,” Boyd said. “The last time we played them [a 2-1] win, she also was awesome.”
Boardman head coach Fawzi Mujahed said Huck “did an excellent job in the second half — totally different. Awesome second half — I can’t ask for [a] better [performance].”
The physical game (five yellow cards on the Spartans, one on the Tigers) tightened considerably after the Spartans took a corner kick with about 26:15 remaining. Cassie Stitt knocked the ball into the box and Cara Higgins found it and slipped it past Tigers goalkeeper Monica Kotyuk for a 2-1 score.
“The whole atmosphere changed,” Scott said.
The Spartans (4-6-1) turned on their intensity. Koytuk made a sliding save on Alison Green to maintain the lead.
With three minutes remaining, Howland’s Napier Ramsey stole the ball at midfield and slipped it to Scott, who found Lexi Ross breaking down the middle. Ross scored for a 3-1 lead.
“She came through,” Scott said of Ross. “I was so excited.”
Game over, right? Not quite.
Moments later, Kotyuk was given a yellow card when she collided in the box with Boardman’s Skylar Bryant. Ross replaced Koytuk in goal for Alexis Cailor’s close-range penalty kick. Cailor hit the corner of the net for a 3-2 score.
The Tigers controlled the ball for most of the remaining 2:36 for the victory.
Scott feels the Tigers are peaking.
“In the beginning of the season, we were kind of iffy, but I think we’ve really picked it up,” Scott said. “We’re really doing well connecting on passes.”