According to Streetsboro Rockets girls’ soccer Coach Ryan Willard, he knew his team was due to score. Trailing 1-0 after 77 minutes of regulation, Willard’s gut instinct proved correct when Streetsboro tied Metro Athletic Conference rival the Cloverleaf Colts 1-1, and the Rockets knocked off their conference foes 2-1 in overtime to win their first MAC tournament championship and the league banner outright last Wednesday evening at Kent State University’s Dix Stadium.
“I could not have asked for anything more,” Willard said. “Cloverleaf is probably one of the best 20 teams in the State. They have gotten votes in the state-ranking all year long and it just tells our girls we can compete with most of the teams in the area so I think it should give us some additional confidence going into the state tournament.”
During the inaugural season of the MAC tournament in 2021, Streetsboro (12-2-3, 9-0-1) settled for a tie for the league championship when defeated by Field in the championship game. The Rockets tied with Cloverleaf in the regular season in conference points so when they faced off against the Colts in the MAC title match, it would be for all of the marbles.
The 16-year coach acknowledged that despite trailing 1-0 for the majority of the match, Streetsboro still controlled the momentum.
“We were just not getting the shots but we controlled the flow of play and had the ball way more during the game, but to have the belief you can put the ball in the net even when you have not for 77 minutes,” he added. “It is something that was special about our girls.”
The Rockets finally scored the equalizer when freshman forward Sara Koyan received a long pass from senior forward Claire Collins inside the box and finished the play, knotting the game at 1-1.
Willard said by finally finding the back of the net, his squad was invigorated.
“A whole new level of momentum shifted to us,” he said. “The girls continued to believe and knew they were in the game going into overtime and knew they had the better chance.”
Junior forward Lydia Schoefield delivered the dagger when she won a battle for the ball inside the box and bounced it off her chest then booted it into the net, walking Streetsboro off 2-1 with the MAC trophy.
“We honestly asked her to play a different role on Wednesday night with the way Cloverleaf sets up which took her out of the scoring areas for most of the game,” said Willard. “That was what we changed going into overtime, we put her back up to where she normally plays and Carmen got a good ball in to her and the rest she took care of.”
Koyan’s goal erased a lead that Cloverleaf held for the majority of the match after sophomore defender Kayla Shook split a pair of Streetsboro defenders on a through ball down field to score the go-ahead goal inside the 29th minute of play, giving the Colts a 1-0 advantage.
Despite the goal, Streetsboro’s defense, which had already recorded a school record 11 shutouts this season, stifled the Colts.
Willard said that in Streetsboro’s previous match against the Colts on Sep. 7, Cloverleaf won every ball that came up to the Rocket forwards but they turned the tables against their MAC foes in the championship match.
He added the Rocket forwards had a determination that they would be the ones that got to the ball first and were physical when they needed to be and used their speed to wear down Cloverleaf’s defense.
Despite Schoefield not being involved in a lot of scoring chances during the regular play of the match, Willard credited Koyan and freshman forward Olivia Willard for applying pressure against the Colts’ defense, exhausting them to the point when the Rockets could finally tie the game with just a few minutes remaining.
“The forwards were really disciplined on trying to take away passing lanes towards the outside which is what we wanted to do and tried to force the ball in towards the middle and our midfield line took away Riley Evans, who was the Player of the Year in the conference last year, and her ability to be a playmaker on Wednesday evening,” Willard said.
He also said it was the perfect match before the beginning of the postseason to prepare the Rockets for a long playoff march.
The Rockets postseason commenced when they defeated Edgewood 3-1 in the OHSAA Division II Northeast I sectional semifinal on October 14.
If Streetsboro defeats Struthers in the sectional championship on Wednesday, it will face either Perry or Niles McKinley for a berth in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II Northeast I district title on Oct. 23 at Hubbard High School’s Memorial Stadium in Trumbull County on Oct. 23 at 6 p.m.
