Capturing a district title is something that continues to elude the Aurora Greenmen girls’ soccer team. Aurora’s bid for a district banner fell short again as they lost 3-1 to Louisville in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III Northeast 3 district final last Saturday evening at Boliantz Stadium in Macedonia.
“They played hard,” said Coach Domenica McClintock. “They were not even supposed to be seeded to get this far and they picked off two teams that were quality teams that were seeded higher than they were. We really picked it up toward the second half of the game but at that point, we ran out of time.”
Since McClintock took over the program, the Greenmen (10-8-1, 4-2-1) have qualified for the district championship three times in the last six years but each appearance has ended the same way. On Saturday, the third time was not the charm for the Greenmen.
Louisville dominated possession in the beginning of the match and struck first when senior midfielder/forward Payton Allan received a cross from junior defender Alyssa Schillig and buried the goal inside the 14th minute of regulation, pushing the Leopards ahead 1-0.
According to the sixth-year coach, the theme of the postseason for the Greenmen was resiliency, as every time their opponents scored on them, they responded by scoring a goal to either tie the match or take back the lead.
“That is a true testament to what these girls are capable of doing,” she added. “That has happened in each of these playoff games. They were able to respond very quickly with a goal. That happened at West Geauga, that happened at Canfield and it happened here.”
It took Aurora less than 30 seconds to knot the score at 1-1, with sophomore midfielder Bella Sferry chasing down a through ball in transition from freshman defender Izzy Stavukas to score the equalizer at the 14th minute of play.
After the Greenmen tied the score, Louisville continued pushing the pace by relying on their speed and found the cracks in Aurora’s defense. The Leopards scored the go-ahead goal when Allen collected a rebound off of senior goalkeeper Hannah Hopwood, who blocked a previous shot attempt, and scored her second goal of the match inside the 27th minute of play, pushing Louisville back ahead 2-1.
McClintock acknowledged that the Leopards’ speed created a problem for Aurora’s defense.
“They do a very good job at playing the ball over the top and sending a person on the inside,” she added. “We did not make the correction, but they are very athletic and very fast, there is no doubt about that.”
Aurora opened the second half with a more aggressive attitude and appeared to be on the verge of swinging momentum back in its favor but the Leopards’ speed once again proved to be too much, with Schillig chasing down a through ball in transition and beating Hopwood one-on-one inside the 45th minute of regulation, extending Louisville’s lead to 3-1.
After the Leopards scored the decisive third goal, Aurora struggled to gain possession, only generating one shot at the net until the final 10 minutes of play, when they recorded two shots on goal.
“It is all about what the girls want to do at that point,” McClintock noted. “They picked it up and kept moving forward. Toward the end of the game, they got their opportunities but they came up short.”
Although another bid to the Sweet Sixteen ended prematurely, McClintock said that the Greenmen’s desire to capture a district title has not faded.
“We will bounce back next year. We will come back even stronger and learn from our mistakes and continue to grow and improve,” she said.
She added that making this year’s district championship held a special meaning to the Greenmen, as they were only seeded 24th entering the playoffs but that did not stop them from staging a pair of upsets to storm back to the district championship.
“It was one of resilience and growth,” she said. “We were learning to play new positions and learning new things and for us to come into the playoffs and make this kind of run is just a true testament to their confidence and discipline to try to continue to grow and work.”
With only five seniors graduating from the 2024 squad, McClintock said that the experience gained by several of the upperclassmen (underclassmen?) was invaluable and should serve Aurora well in the next several years.
“We will be back and we will make sure that we are stronger than ever,” she said.
