If there was ever a game for the Ravenna Ravens girls’ soccer team to be fired up for, it was against Barberton. But the Ravens’ two-game winning streak was snapped and they settled for a 3-3 tie against the Magics last Saturday at Portage Community Bank Stadium’s Gilcrest Field.
“The girls really wanted it,” said Coach Taryn Vespoint. “They fought for it. This is the best I have ever seen them play. This was a hard team so I am not upset at all about that tie. This was a very hard team for us to play but they did a really good job.”
It was a special game for the Ravens (4-6-1, 2-4-0) because it marked the first year Ravenna hosted a game that honored an alumnus of the school who is battling cancer.. The Ravens played on behalf of Ravenna alum Fallon Schwab-Davis, older sister of sophomore goalkeeper Lillian Franklin.
For the Ravens’ first-year coach, it was a cause near and dear to her heart.
“That’s what the Ravenna team is about. It is a family,” she said. “I lost a parent to cancer and Kelly, my assistant, she lost her Mom to cancer as well so cancer is something we always want to raise awareness for. It is something that is near and dear to us as coaches but once we found out one of our players’ relatives had cancer we wanted to make sure we helped them through this tough time.”
Each team scored a goal in the first half but one of the most decisive plays came when Barberton freshman defender Sydnee Brown was issued a red card for fighting with junior midfielder Natalie Dyer inside the 31st minute of play.
The two players jockeyed for position for a loose ball in the far left corner but things got physical when Brown apparently threw a punch at Dyer during the tussle. She was instantly ejected and the Ravens would have an extra player advantage for the duration of the game.
According to junior midfielder/forward Natalie Clark, Ravenna hoped to capitalize on its numbers advantage.
“We really wanted to play a player where there was an open space because we know they would not have gotten to the player if we made a through ball to them,” she added. “We did that a lot of times.”
Senior forward Brynn Scott pushed the Ravens ahead when she put just enough force on a ball in transition to sneak it into the goal, giving Ravenna a 2-1 advantage inside the 39th minute of regulation.
“Every goal that we had was a spark,” Vespoint said. “Not only that. The goals get us excited but the way the girls played on Saturday was amazing. That is what the spark was. I have never seen these girls go out with so much heart and dedication.”
In the second half, Magics’ senior Lily Cunningham ignited her team’s offense in transition, constantly running down deep balls toward the net and used her size to muscle herself into quality looks.
Cunningham scored the equalizer when she got to the ball first before Franklin could, tying the score at 2-2 inside 46th minute of play.
Ravenna responded when Clark scored her second goal of the match, booting a shot in from outside the top of the box off an assist from Scott, pushing the Ravens ahead 3-2 in the 49th minute of play.
“Natalie is our go-to girl right now,” said Vespoint. “She is aggressive and knows the sport of soccer but also has very good composure and maintains very well and plays smart. One thing we have been working on with her is looking up and taking that shot which she did on Saturday and it works to our advantage.”
Ravenna’s lead was short-lived when Cunningham successfully repeated a play in transition, tying the score at 3-3 inside the 59th minute of regulation.
Neither team could break the tie in the final 20 minutes and the Ravens recorded their first tie of the 2023 season.
Having graduated several seniors, Ravenna has been learning on the fly, starting three freshmen and two sophomores, but the team has caught fire on offense, scoring 15 goals in its last three contests.
“We’ve already been having a better season than last season starting off with a win in our first game,” said Clark. “I think this is going to get us to where we need to be.”
Following a home contest against Metro Athletic Conference foe Woodridge on Tuesday evening, Ravenna will hit the road and face Ellet on Thursday at 5 p.m. in Akron.
