It seems any time the Streetsboro Rockets girls’ and the Aurora Greenmen girls’ soccer teams face off, it is nothing short of exciting. That was the case when the Rockets struck gold in the final minute of play to triumph against their Portage County rival 3-2 last Saturday evening at Veterans Stadium.
“I think that this is big just from a confidence perspective,” said Streetsboro Coach Ryan Willard. “Our games one way or another have tended to be lopsided. We have not too many games where they have been tight down to the wire like on Saturday night so I think we needed one like this to challenge us and see that we could come out in a game on top against a team that out-possesses us. There are other ways to win sometime.”
Since the 2018 season, the Portage County rivals have played in some thrilling matches, with the Rockets (10-3-1, 6-1-0) holding a slim edge by owning a 2-1-3 record.
It seemed that the teams would once again settle for a draw last Saturday evening with the score knotted at 2-2 in the final minutes with Aurora (6-5-1, 3-1-1-) owning time of possession.
The Rockets had struggled to gain possession all night with two of their best creators, sophomore midfielders Olivia Willard and Madz Genovese, each being unavailable due to injury.
The 17-year coach acknowledged that not having Olivia or Genovese meant that the Rockets needed to have a more aggressive mindset.
“We know that we are not able to connect passes as well and pass the ball how we do with them in the game, so we had to be a little more direct with how we had to go when we got the ball,” he noted.
In the final minute of play, Streetsboro collected the ball on the right side of the field, and Greenmen sophomore goalkeeper Addison Oukley came out of the net to push the ball away. It landed at the feet of sophomore forward Sara Koyan.
Koyan said she could hear Coach Willard urge her to attempt a long-distance shot.
“I was so tired,” she added. “I had just run back and I was just following the play because I did not think I would be able to run through it and it perfectly came to me. I was not going to be able to get anywhere with it and I just hit it with all of my power.”
Koyan’s shot had the perfect amount of spin on it and it landed just inside the left post of the net for the decisive go-ahead goal, pushing the Rockets ahead 3-2 at the 79th minute of regulation.
What seemed like an impossible shot landed in the perfect spot, allowing the Rockets to end their regular season with a thrilling victory. Willard noted that with Aurora’s sophomore goalkeeper not within range of the goal, it was a risk worth taking,
“When you see the keeper outside of the goal, you just have to take a chance,” he said. “That is what we were seeing and trying to communicate to Sara.”
What made the Rockets’ victory even more impressive was the fact that their Portage County foes had outshot them by a 9-4 margin.
According to Greenmen Coach Domenica McClintock, squandering scoring opportunities had been a theme all season.
“The formation we play does not have us overloading at the attack,” the ninth-year coach said. “It is more of a possession-based soccer that we play so we just have to continue to allow ourselves to find the back of the net. It is accuracy, patience and composure.”
Koyan acknowledged that although the Rockets were limited in finding scoring opportunities, they knew to make the few that they attempted count.
After a 1-1 tie at the half, the Rockets took the lead in the second half when senior forward Lydia Shofield chased down a loose ball and met senior goalkeeper Hannah Hopwood at the net at the same time. Schofield’s foot had a little more force and muscled the ball past Hopwood to score her first goal of the match, giving the Rockets a 2-1 lead at the 54th minute of play.
Aurora evened the score at 2-2 when freshman midfielder/defender Brooke Warmke launched a long-distance goal from beyond the top of the box.
Willard said that no matter how many times Aurora responded, the Rockets never wavered in their approach.
Should Streetsboro defeat Metro Athletic Conference foe Akron Springfield in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament on Tuesday and win its semifinal match on Thursday, it would advance to the MAC championship on Oct. 10 at Kent State University’s Dix Stadium at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, following a road match against Suburban League American Conference foe Barberton on Wednesday evening, the Greenmen will host Solon on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.
