Bay’s Maureen Doyle controls the ball during last week’s West Shore Conference game against Fairview. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Bay girls settle for tie with Mentor, shutout Warriors
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published Sept. 24, 2008

As Maxwell Smart used to say, “missed it by that much.”

The Bay girls soccer team, playing solid defense and nursing a 1-0 lead, allowed the tying goal with 1:19 left in the game in settling for a 1-1 tie at Mentor last Saturday.

The tie capped off a week that saw the Rockets down Fairview, 4-0, to keep them in first place in the West Shore Conference with a 4-0 record heading into tonight’s game at Rocky River.

“It was a case of playing 39 minutes instead of 40,” said Bay’s first-year head coach Jack Griffiths, whose team was 6-1-2 overall going into this past Monday’s non-conference game at Avon Lake.

After a scoreless first half, the Rockets scored at around the 12 minute mark in the second half as Megan Griffiths scored off an assist from Anna Irvine. The lead, however, could have been bigger, according to coach Griffiths.

“The first 15 minutes of the game was probably the best 15 minutes we’ve played this season,” said Griffiths. “We easily could have had a 2-0 lead at that point. Their goalie made just a fantastic save. She was totally parallel to the ground and just got her fingertips on it.

“That happened about three minutes into the game. Then we had another shot bounce off the crossbar. We out shot them, 16-7, for the game, but we just couldn’t convert. Actually, I was pretty thrilled with how we were playing because we left for Mentor at 6:15 in the morning and had a junior varsity game before we played. I was afraid we’d come out flat, but that wasn’t the case,” he said.

The Rockets were getting it done on the defensive end until Mentor freshman Amber Seaman scored off an assist from Stephanie Wegraff to beat goalie Megan Altieri.

“Actually, we were playing pretty well defensively,” said Griffiths. “They got the ball down there on us, made a few passes and made a really nice shot. It wasn’t a freak goal by any means. It was a shame. The girls were so excited that they were up, but they just couldn’t hold on at the end.”

Fairview goalkeeper Rachael Ricke stops a shot by Bay's Jackie Harris. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Earlier, the Rockets got three goals from Jackie Harris in the shutout win at Fairview. Megan Griffiths scored the other goal as Bay came alive in the second half after a scoreless first. The assists came from Irvine, Griffiths, Amanda Ritzenthaler and Brittany Wenzell. Altieri had a save, while Katie McMurray had three. Rachel Rieke had 13 saves in goal for the Warriors.

Coach Griffiths pointed out that the makeup of this year’s team is paying big dividends so far this season.

“One of the beautiful things about this group is that they’re very team oriented,” said Griffiths. “Last year, we had five or six very talented girls, but the team never really jelled together like this year’s team has.

“And this year, we have depth. “We go deep into our bench and play 18-19 girls each game. We have a lot of freshmen who are playing substantial minutes, so we’re getting a lot of girls a lot of experience,” he said.

There have been other changes this season, such as switching to a 4-5-1 formation. “A lot of coaches don’t like to run it, but it fits our team,” said Griffiths. “This past summer, I wanted to find a system that would best fit our abilities, and the 4-5-1 is what we settled on.”

The Rockets will travel to West Geauga this Saturday in a makeup game. They have WSC games with Midview and Avon remaining next week.

Eagle girls roll over Berea
North Olmsted moved to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the Southwestern Conference with a convincing 7-0 win over Berea last Wednesday. Jenna Madison scored a pair of goals to lead the Eagles, who built a 5-0 halftime lead.

The other goals for North Olmsted came from Erika Wilhelm, Alyssa Lawrence, Cat Hohmann, Taylor Timoteo and Natalie Konig. Lauren Ware had a pair of assists, with assists also coming from Madisen Medley, Erika Kobak and Elise Bluell.

Vasi Collander started in goal and recorded a save. Mary Bridges also played in goal for the Eagles, as did Sarah Loeser (four saves.)

Westlake boys tops in SWC
The Demons got another huge win at home last Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over Brecksville  at Read Field in a battle for SWC supremacy.

Westlake grabbed sole possession of first place with the win, moving to 4-0 in the league and 8-1-1 overall. The Bees dropped to 3-1 in the league, 6-2-1 overall.

Sophomore forward Matt Hritz scored his third goal of the season early in the second half off an assist from Anthony Stellato. Goalie Tim Hipskind had eight saves in recording his seventh shutout of the season.

Bay boys keep winning
The state-ranked Rockets kept rolling last week, blanking Fairview, 3-0, then edging out visiting Aurora, 4-3, last Saturday to move to 8-1-1 overall and 4-0 in the WSC.

Against Fairview, Kevin Koch, Aaron Adkins and Kyle Outcalt scored second-half goals to pace the Bay offense. The assists came from Adkins, Shane Williams and Ian Munro. Hector Acosta had four saves in goal for the Rockets, while Zach Benson had 11 saves for the Warriors, who fell to 2-4-1 overall and 1-2-1 in league games.

Adkins scored two more goals against Aurora, but it was Kyle Hyland who scored the game-winner in the second half. Munro also scored a goal for the Rockets, with assists coming from Connor and Kyle Outcalt, Adkins and Hyland. Nate McDonald had four saves and Acosta three in goal.

Westlake girls have SWC lead
The Demons defeated Brecksville, 3-1, last Wednesday on the road to raise their record to 7-1-1 overall and 3-0 in the SWC. The loss knocked the Bees out of first place at 3-1.

Westlake’s goals came from Sarah Stachowiak, Megan Dunlap and Natalie Bechtel, with Karyn Prendergast recording the lone assist. Stephanie Poeppelman had five saves in goal for the Demons.

Fairview boys topple Midpark
The Fairview boys ended a rough week with a 4-3 win over Midpark in a non-conference game. Earlier in the week, the Warriors fell to Orange, 2-0, and Bay, 3-0, as their record moved to 5-5-1 overall and 2-2 in the WSC.

Brad Snow scored three goals for Fairview in the win over the Meteors, giving him seven on the season. One of his goals was a header off a corner kick. The fourth goal was scored by Enea Saliaj as Fairview took a 4-0 halftime lead, only to see Midpark rally with three goals in two minutes late in the second half.