Fallsnewspress.com - Stow girls soccer overpowers game Woodridge

Photo courtesy of Stow-Munroe Falls girls soccer Woodridge’s Alex Widowfield (13) fights for the ball with Stow-Munroe Falls’ Marena Toth during the Bulldog’s 4-1 loss at Stow Aug. 29.

by Michael Leonard

Sports Editor

Stow -- A contest between Stow-Munroe Falls and Woodridge girls soccer might be a Battle of the Bulldogs.

But on this night, even the coaches admitted the two teams might not be evenly matched.

Stow's advantage in offensive weapons and possession showed Aug. 30 at Bulldog Stadium, as the home team scored a 4-1 win over a game but overmatched Woodridge side.

Woodridge rebounded to score its first win of the season vs. James A. Garfield 3-0 Aug. 31.

Meanwhile, Stow suffered at 6-1 loss at Strongsville Sept. 1.

Stow's record stood at 3-1, while Woodridge's record moved to 1-2-1 as of press time.

Tactically, Woodridge coach Jason Allenspach admitted his team would have been run out of the park had it played a traditional 4-4-2 formation.

"We wouldn't have been able to do it," Allenspach said. "They have so much speed, especially up front. We couldn't compete with their skill on the ball."

Thus, Woodridge adopted a 5-4-1 formation with senior Brittany Charles serving as the lone forward. Woodridge's strategy was classic "bunker and counter" -- clog up space in front of the box, absorb the pressure Stow put forward and counter-attack when possible.

Stow coach Chris Tipton said he expected such tactics and that his team did a solid job shutting down Woodridge's opportunities.

"With Brittany, I expected her to be up top and she's a good player," Tipton said. "We did a good job making sure she didn't see much of the ball."

With Tipton focused on isolating Charles, Allenspach had his focus on Stow forward Vickie Havas, who found herself double-marked most of the night.

"Our goal was to make sure Havas had to work for everything," Allenspach said. "I think we did a good job of that, for the most part."

In the sixth minute, however, Havas produced a bit of magic to open the scoring.

Running into the box from the right side, Havas juked one Woodridge defender and then another before smoking a low left-footed shot past Woodridge goalkeeper Liz McIe. Stow's Alyssa George was credited with the assist.

It was largely one-way traffic for the rest of the first half, as Stow notched eight shots on goal to Woodridge's two. However, Allenspach said he could tell Havas was getting frustrated with the constant marking, which was forcing her out of the box.

In the 28th minute, Havas started a nice sequence to get Stow's second goal. Running to the near side flag, Havas put a nice cross into the box. Midfielder Adri Tondi one-touched the ball to forward Marena Toth, who was wide open on the back post.

Toth banged it home to make it 2-0 and Stow went to halftime with the lead.

Stow continued to press forward, but was unable to find much headway early in the second half.

"Up two goals, we were trying to work the ball a bit too perfectly," Tipton said. "We've been working on combination play. Some girls just need to shoot it when they have the opportunity."

Stow nearly regretted not taking its chances as Woodridge took advantage of its lone scoring opportunity in the second half.

Charles was able to run onto a high ball from the back and nearly got on net before getting fouled just outside the box.

Charles took the free kick herself and lofted a perfect ball into the top corner of the net, cutting the lead to 2-1 in the 58th minute.

Tipton said he was certain an equalizer would come after the goal. However, Stow was able to settle down and play its possession game as Woodridge didn't get another shot off after the goal.

Meanwhile, Stow re-established its two-goal lead in the 67th minute, when Havas fed a ball to charging Toth and Toth fired a low shot into the net.

Tondi put the game away in the 76th minute, when she lobbed a ball over replacement goalkeeper Casey Goff to make it 4-1.

The statistics tell the story as Stow finished with a 15-3 advantage in shots on goal. Stow goaltender Haley Hopkins made two saves on the night, while McIe and Goff combined for nine saves.

Stow was set to face Solon on the road Sept. 4, but results weren't available at press time. The Bulldogs will host St. Vincent-St. Mary Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. and then host Mayfield Sept. 11 at 3 p.m.

E-mail: mleonard@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113