43
Deep Fitch team holds Hubbard without shot on goal
Deep Fitch team holds Hubbard without
shot on goal in convincing triumph
By MIKE McLAIN
HUBBARD
It was a good night to be a goalkeeper for the Austintown Fitch Falcons girls soccer team.
Megan Bartley and Jessica Goist, who split the chores, may not have broken a sweat in Fitch’s 4-0 win over the Hubbard Eagles on Wednesday night. Neither keeper faced a shot on goal as the Falcons easily improved their record to 6-2-0.
On the other end of the pitch, Fitch managed 10 shots on goals against Hubbard keepers Alexis Cobbin and Lea Munnell. Jackie Muccio, Katlyn Klasic, Tiffany Aliberti and Lauren Dolak each found the back of the net. Muccio and Klasic scored off Cobbins in the first half, while Aliberti and Dolak had second-half goals off Munnell.
“I definitely liked what I saw, and we got all our kids in the game,” Falcons coach Tex Martin said. “Hubbard played a good game. They’re short-handed.”
Short-handed in that the Eagles have just 24 players in their program. The Falcons have 40-plus players, many of whom play club soccer.
It made for a difficult challenge for Hubbard (5-3-2).
“A lot of our kids have to play JV, too,” Eagles coach Scott MacMillan said. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”
The Eagles entered play with a sense of confidence after battling the strong Niles McKinley Red Dragons to a 0-0 draw last Monday. For a combination of reasons, Hubbard wasn’t able to bring a level of intensity needed to deal with Fitch.
“A lot of letdown,” MacMillan said. “They don’t get up for our non-conference games as much. Niles, Lakeview and Poland are our conference [games]. We don’t typically play Fitch, so there’s not a lot of rivalry, and two tough games in a row.”
The win is another step in what the Falcons hope is a prelude to a strong tournament run. The Falcons advanced to the Division I district semifinals last season.
“We’re still nursing some injuries,” Martin said. “When we get healthy, I think we [Fitch and Canfield] will be the top two teams in our league.”
The Falcons put the Eagles into catch-up mode when Muccio scored from 30 feet and to the right of the goal. Muccio received a cross from Dolak and was able to get the ball beyond Cobbin at the 35:12 mark.
“The letdown right off the bat when we gave up a goal in the first five minutes,” MacMillan said. “My team would have started believing in themselves a little longer if we had held them a little longer. Once they get down after a big game, and then they hit the second one ...
“I tell my team when we play a lesser team, if you let them believe they’re going to come back, they’re going to get you. Tonight we just didn’t have enough horses in the race, and they’re an excellent team.”
Klasic took a pass from Courtney Mercer following a corner kick and drilled a shot past Cobbin from 33 feet with 9:33 remaining in the first half.
Any hopes the Eagles had of a comeback ended when Aliberti raced down the right wing and buried a shot beyond Munnell from 45 feet at the 29:27 mark of the second half. Mercer had the assist.
Dolak finished the scoring with a shot from 20 feet after receiving a pass from Abby Knight.