Second-half goals give Tigers first district title since 2012

October 28, 2016 at 12:08a.m.

NILES

The Howland Tigers were denied a district championship last season, losing 1-0 to Niles in the final.

They would not be denied a title Thursday on the Red Dragons’ home turf.

Sara Ciletti, Isabella Merlo and Na’pier Ramsey scored goals and Kamryn Buckley turned back all nine Lakeview shots as the Tigers defeated the Bulldogs, 3-0 at Bo Rein Stadium.

Howland clinched its first regional berth since 2012.

“This win is very, very pleasing and I’m really happy for the girls,” Tigers head coach Joe Megyesi said.

“Last year we had only one senior and lost, but this year their goal from the first day of practice was to win the district.”

Howland will meet Kent district champion Hathaway Brown at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Twinsburg High School.

The Blazers defeated Lodi Cloverleaf 3-0 to capture their district championship.

After a scoreless opening half, which produced four shots on goal from each team, Sara Ciletti broke the scoreless tie just 1:37 into the second session.

“Leah [Pollifrone] kind of toe-poked me the ball in the middle of the goal and I just slid it in under the goalkeepers’ arms,” Ciletti said. “This is the best feeling. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I think ’Bella’s goal really relieved all of the pressure on us and we just kept rolling.”

Merlo’s goal at 26:37 of the half increased the Howland (12-6-1) lead to 2-0.

Merlo’s seventh goal of the season found its way into the lower left part of the net.

“All I remember is the ball was in the air and everybody was all clustered,” Merlo said. “I just saw the ball in front of me and hit it in.”

Ramsey’s goal at 21:40 iced the game.

Ashley Chambers picked up assists on the last two scores.

“I was running down the right sideline, saw Ashley with the ball and I knew that it was going to be the perfect pass,” Ramsey said. “I played it through, ran on, had a defender on my side and just slid it on into the corner. It took four years to get to this point and it feels amazing. This means the world to me.”

Buckley turned back four Lakeview shots in the opening period and another five in the second half.

“I love my defense. I really rely on Caleigh [Hogan] and Shylee [Turner] quite a bit,” Buckley said. “They saved me a lot this year.”

Lakeview (13-4-1) had two scoring opportunities — one in each half — but each hit the side bar.

Bella Kakiou took a shot from the right side off of a Rachel Braunegg pass, but the ball bounced off the post.

Braunegg’s shot in the second half — at 36:20 — deflected off Buckley, hit the left side of the post and caromed back into play.

Braunegg ended her career with 136 goals, just one shy of the Bulldogs’ all-time mark.

“I don’t think it was a difference in two halves, I think it was more like 20 minutes in the first half and 20 minutes in the second half where we just did not match Howland’s intensity,” Bulldogs coach Shawn Varley said.

“Once we got back to playing a little bit of possession ball, we dominated the middle and got a couple shots off. We just didn’t match their intensity and congratulations to Howland.”

Varley added that missed opportunities proved costly.

“We didn’t capitalize on the opportunities that we did have and we made some mental mistakes,” he said.