Thursday, August 27, 2015
By DAN HINER
AUSTINTOWN
With both the Boardman and Austintown Fitch girls soccer teams coming off losses in their first games of the season, the All-American Conference matchup between the Spartans and the Falcons offered a chance to change the momentum.
Fitch made the most of the opportunity.
Sophomore Camryn Constance put the Falcons ahead 1-0 with 2:39 remaining in the first half. Lauren Dolak passed the ball across the field from the far right corner to Constance, who put the ball in the back of the net.
Fitch (1-1) added to the lead when junior Jackie Muccio scored with 26:49 left in the game. Boardman goalie Camille Holzschuh blocked a corner kick, but the ball bounced to Muccio, who was set up several yards in front of the goal.
“It’s always a rivalry between us and Boardman,” Fitch head coach Tex Martin said. “We were a little sloppy the first half. I think we came around the second half and we got a little more organized. We played a really good keeper so we had to set the ball up to the other side to get some goals.”
Boardman had to deal with an aggressive Fitch team that attempted 18 shots throughout the game. Despite giving up two goals, Holzschuh recorded 12 saves including a diving stop with 16:16 remaining in the first half.
“It’s a blessing to have a sophomore that’s that good, to say the least. She’s big-time for us,” Boardman head coach Joshua MacMillan said.
“She’s one of those people who hates downtime at practice — which is why we usually don’t have any. She works hard and plays well on both goals. [The goals she allowed] are not keeper mistakes. She played the ball out on the corner kick. It just got to one of their girls and they got to put it in before we could get to it. She played well and she always does.”
Martin said the Falcons played well and the players learned from their 1-0 loss to Green to open the season, but he thought they weren’t as polished as they could have been.
“I think we let Boardman stay in the game early, and I think we had to play a little more different and a little more under control,” Martin said. “This is only our second game, so we are a little more hyped up. We need to calm down, not rush things and make precise passes.
“Coming into this game they felt more comfortable. Knowing a lot of Boardman players and playing them throughout the years, they felt more comfortable.”
Soriya Rezapourian had four saves in goal for Fitch.
MacMillian said the Spartans are young and can learn from a game against the more experienced Falcons.
“The girls always know when we can play better and when we can do certain things,” MacMillan said. “I think it’s consistency—and that will come with time. We’ll put a real good series on an attack together, we’ll get back, but it’s just making sure we do that every single play. Against an experienced team, it just shows what we have to do more consistently than anything.”
Boardman is still learning its new coach’s system.
“We’re coming along. I got hired late so we didn’t get started until the second week of June,” MacMillan said. “We’re trying to change the system of play in general, so it’s new to a lot of kids. I think overall they’re doing well. We’re getting more and more moments where we are playing really well as the games go on.
“It’s a process. They played hard. They play hard until the end in every game.SDRq