Niles girls win district soccer title

October 30, 2015 at 12:08a.m.

POLAND

The Niles girls soccer team is advancing to regional play for the first time in the program’s history.

It took the Red Dragons’ own version of “Sister Act” to get them there.

Jaycee Ward’s kick just over six minutes into the second half bounced off Howland goalie Kamryn Buckley, allowing older sister Hannah to follow with the game’s only goal as top-seeded Niles defeated the third-seeded Tigers, 1-0 in a Division II district final Thursday night at Poland’s Dave Pavlansky Field.

The Red Dragons also made history in another way. They had never beaten Howland since the program’s inception in 1986. Next up is a regional semifinal date against Akron Hoban on Tuesday at Nordonia High School.

“Jaycee kicked it from about the 15-yard mark, I just ran in to follow the shot and hoped for the best,” Hannah said. “I saw it go off of Jaycee’s foot and just ran. It’s amazing and a very special moment. How many people can say that you and your sister just helped your team win district for the very first time?”

As a first-year varsity player, Jaycee was just happy to be able to contribute to her team’s record-setting night.

“When I kicked it and she [Buckley] caught it, I thought the play was over and then I heard everyone cheering,” she said. “As a freshman, to be able to come in and help so much is just a great feeling.”

The game’s opening half featured just three shots on goal by the Red Dragons (15-2-2) and a lone attempt by the Tigers (9-7-3).

The Red Dragons held a 6-2 shot advantage for the game.

Niles goalie Veda Flannery, who registered her third consecutive whitewash and 12th shutout of the season, did anything but take the night off while rejecting the Red Dragons’ only two attempts.

“My team did a lot of the work in front of me and I felt we controlled basically the whole game,” Flannery said. “Our defense is just different than theirs in that we play four back and they play a deep sweeper. Tonight, it was really hard to penetrate their sweeper but we got in there eventually. We worked hard and really wanted this. I think we deserved it.”

The two teams battled to a 1-1 tie back on Oct. 12 and Niles head coach Jennifer Mease, now in her seventh season with, said her team was much more aggressive this time.

“We really kind of just spelled it out for them,” Mease said. “I think they knew after playing them the first time that it was going to be a physical game. Then on Monday against West Branch we weren’t as physical as we liked to be so it was a very good stepping stone and kind of a learning opportunity for them. They knew that if they played like Monday then they would lose this game.

“We always want our kids to [be aggressive] and encourage our kids and try to tell them to crash the goal so it’s really nice to see them listen.”

Winning a district final for the time was emotional.

“I don’t have words really, it’s amazing and it couldn’t come to a better group of kids,” Mease said. “I give them all the credit. They’ve worked hard — really hard — for all of this.”

Howland’s season ends despite allowing just three overall in three tournament games.

“I was really happy with our girls. It was a really close game as both defenses were excellent tonight,” Tigers head coach Joe Megyesi said. “[Niles] stepped it up the first 15 minutes and we picked it up after that so it was pretty well-balanced on both sides the entire game. Kamryn [Buckley] was excellent in goal for us and both teams played really outstanding the entire night.”

Howland closed its season by going 5-1-1.

The Knights advanced to the regional semi-finals after posting a 5-0 win Thursday over Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy at Medina Highland High School.

Game time is 7 p.m.