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After scoreless first half, Springfield hangs five goals on Lordstown
By ERIC FORTUNE
NEW MIDDLETOWN
Riding in on a nine game winning streak in which Springfield outscored oppononents 63-7, the only thing that seemed to be able to slow down the Tigers was Mother Nature.
A constant downpour throughout the afternoon made field conditions less than desirable taking away the Tigers’ speed. That ugly aspect was the great equalizer as it neutralized the Tigers’ speed at times as the Lordstown Red Devils kept the game scoreless at the half before Springfield got it going to pull away with a 5-1 victory in a Division III District Semifinal.
“It kept it close in the first half,” Springfield coach Justin Kosek said. “It absolutely kept it close. We played well in the first half. They did a nice job of stopping us from taking advantage of our
opportunities.”
The Tigers (16-2) had six shots on goal in the first half, but each time the Red Devils (9-9) turned them away. “I think in the first half we stuck to tactically where we needed to be,” Lordstown coach Matt Kresic said. “The rain did help us for sure. Defensively we were strong.”
Kosek pointed out how the Red Devils kept switching up on his team which with the field conditions presented issues.
“Every time (Cierra) Latronica got the ball, he sent three girls on her immediately,” Kosek said. “(Kylee Kosek), in the middle, was playing with her back to the goal a lot which we don’t like to do much with her. We like to get her out running. They did a nice job of stifling them two a lot.”
To start the second half, the Tigers’ coach decided to come out in a 3-4-3 which his team had not played all year.
“I just really didn’t know how to get things going,” Kosek said. “I had a couple of starters hurt for this game. I had a left footer who I thought would work out on the left spot up front.”
The strategy paid off with Shantel Springer scoring 24 seconds into the second half with an assist from Anna Rothwell.
Lordstown had an opportunity to tie it up at the 35:02 mark when Cadence Lickwar put a strong kick on goal only to be denied on a nice save from Lex Slike.
The game stayed 1-0 over the next 15 minutes until a goal from Kylee Kosek gave the Tigers a little breathing room as Springfield started pressuring the ball more.
“They had the ball in the midfield a lot with just too much time to think about what they wanted to do,” Kosek said. “We really talked about our inside mid putting some pressure on the ball so they wouldn’t have the time to think and decide. I wanted us to get the ball outside because the middle of the field was a mess.”
The Tigers started working the ball outside getting it up and hitting the cross a little bit more adding another goal from Kosek (8:25) and two from Latronicia (1:30 and :50).
“In tight, inside of the box, I felt we played the ball well, in the second half especially,” Kosek said. “We really set the ball back, worked it to the other side and hit some shots that way. In the first half, we didn’t get anything in. In the second half, we took advantage of the opportunities.”