Aurora’s late goal ends Howland’s season

November 2, 2017 at 12:09a.m.

By MIKE MCLAIN

RAVENNA

All signs pointed toward another shootout for the Howland Tigers boys soccer team.

That is until senior Dan French of the Aurora Greenmen staged one of the rare strong offensive moves of the match, turning on a pass from Rees Jones and drilling a shot from just in front of the penalty area beyond the reach of Tigers goalkeeper Michael Schwartz.

The goal, coming with 3:50 remaining in the match, was the extent of scoring as the Greenmen advanced to the Division II, Region 5 final with a 1-0 win here on a rainy and cold Wednesday night.

The Tigers won the Austintown district with a 1-0 shootout victory over the Lakeview Bulldogs. The thrill of that win seemed like a long time ago when the final seconds ticked off the clock.

“It’s an elimination game-type tournament,” Howland coach Brian Stiles said. “Soccer is one of those games that can be decided by one goal. We were just saying how elated we were on Saturday when we won with that shootout. Sports can take you to great highs, and we found out tonight it can get you to great lows, too.”

There wasn’t much Schwartz could do to stop the goal. French gathered in the crossing pass and powered a shot from left of the goal to just inside the right post.

“The big problem there is the kid [Jones] made a penetrating dribble on us,” Stiles said. “He got by us one-on-one and then made someone else shift over and it left the backside open. We did exactly what we were supposed to do in that circumstance, but the kid made a great shot.”

The match played out as billed, which is to say the defenses controlled play. The Greenmen (13-3-4) managed just four shots on Schwartz, while the Tigers (16-3-1) had a paltry two shots (both in the first half) on keeper Robby Albrecht.

The best scoring opportunity by Howland came in the first half when Gabe Altawil had a shot from in front of Albrecht off a crossing pass. Aurora’s best opportunity in the first half came on a direct free kick by French from 25 yards out. Schwartz made a diving save to his left.

The Tigers did a good job of maintaining possession in the offensive half of the field for much of the match, but the Greenmen began to develop better chances late in the game.

“It just comes down to we weren’t getting enough pressure on the attacking end,” Stiles said. “I think that’s what happened. Ultimately, you have to score some goals, and we just didn’t get the job done.”

The Tigers can take pride in what was a successful season. The program will lose several seniors to graduation.

“I think they ended up being the winningest group of seniors we’ve ever had here,” Stiles said. “I think it’s 56 wins over four years. We definitely have a lot of holes to fill.”