North Olmsted falls to Mentor

Eagles hang in after rough opening 20

North Olmsted was steady in the defensive third for an hour after a rough opening 20 minutes. But that stretch ultimately sealed its fate in a 3-1 loss to visiting Mentor on Oct. 2 in an afternoon nonconference match.

The Eagles (6-7) showed occasional promise in the attack but faced an uphill trek after falling behind, 2-0, in the 10th minute.

“I was very pleased with the last 65 minutes of the performance,” North Olmsted coach Bob Armentrout said. “I thought the kids had a lot of fight. The first 15 minutes not going well — we could have definitely

not turned things around, but the kids really did. That’s the way it’s been all year. It’s a hardworking group of kids.

“I thought we did a lot better job just fighting and winning 50-50 balls and making it scrappy. So I am very proud of the fact that we didn’t make the first 15 minutes the rest of the game. It’s a valuable lesson for us to learn moving forward.”

The Cardinals (11-3) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, getting a Kelly Colon strike in the sixth minute and an Ashley Frank brace in the 10th and 21st, the latter on a finish from a deflection in the aftermath of a corner.

The Eagles got their goal in the 24th minute. Sophomore Mikayla Rollins, who displayed a great deal of promise in the opening 40 as a pacey leftsided striker, made a run wide left and crossed for DeAvion Anderson, who delivered the finish for the final margin.

“Rollins does a nice job coming off the flank,” Armentrout said. “De did a really good job for us today just going out and scrapping and getting a goal for us. Today, we’re playing a team that’s athletic. Last year we lost to them, 9-1. Now it’s 3-1. Of course we wanted to win, but we’re doing what we can do to bridge the gap here. If we have fight, we’re good.”