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Fitch ends five-year drought against Howland
By BOB ETTINGER
AUSTINTOWN
Austintown Fitch senior goalkeeper Cam Ashley had never known victory over Howland. That changed with the Falcons’ 2-1 win in All-American Conference Red Tier play at Falcon Stadium on Thursday night.
“This means everything,” Ashley said. “In my four years, we haven’t beaten them once.”
The Falcons hadn’t beaten the Tigers in five seasons.
“It’s huge [to get the win tonight],” Fitch coach Tracey DiRenzo said. “We needed this win. We played with heart, more than we have all year. We played as a unit. We stayed connected. It’s a great game for us to move forward on. I just felt, from the beginning, we had more heart. We just wanted it more and had heart.
“We came together as a unified team. We’ve been through a lot. We’re starting to get in a groove as a team. We’re starting to believe in ourselves, as well as each other.”
The Falcons (5-5-1, 3-3-1) netted two first-half goals and held Howland attackers at bay the best they could over the final 40 minutes.
“They just brought tremendous effort,” Howland coach Brian Stiles said of the Falcons. “We weren’t at their intensity. Going down, 2-0, on the road is tough to overcome. I think we brought it back in the second half, but it was too late. ... The key was jumping on us early. We did have our chances in the first half. We just didn’t capitalize on them. They did.”
Andrew Lescsak tallied the first goal for Fitch on an assist from Dom Foley in the 13th minute of the first half.
“I saw our striker, Dom Foley, out on the side,” Lescsak said. “He was cutting across and I got him the ball. He took on two or three defenders. He did a great job passing off to me. I picked a spot and put it in the back of the net.”
A bit of good fortune befell the Falcons later in the first half when two Howland defenders miscommunicated and one headed the ball into the net for a Fitch goal and a 2-0 lead with 11:04 remaining in the first half.
“Looking at the situation, we had a defender in front and a defender in back,” Stiles said. “We teach them that if a defender is in back, don’t backpedal. The defender in front backpedaled and they crashed into each other. It was poor fundamentals. It’s like crashing into the center fielder.”
Holding that lead at the half had the Falcons believing.
“I think we played a very determined game,” Lescsak said. “We just wanted to come out of it with the victory. When I got that score, our courage and confidence in each other rose.”
Gabe Altawil sent a shot into the net with 18:31 to play in the second half to get the Tigers (9-2-2, 5-1-1) back in the game.
“It was a nice shot,” Stiles said. “We’ve been waiting for that all year. He went through two or three defenders and got off a nice shot.”
Ashley had five saves in the win.
“We communicated,” Ashley said.