Jablonski’s goal gives Demons SWC title

In his last regular season game at the helm of Westlake, coach Scott Jones had a front row seat to watch Samantha Jablonski’s gutsy goal in the 74th minute to clinch the Southwestern Conference title as the Demons topped Amherst 2-1 at UH St. John Stadium on Oct. 11.

“I have seen a lot of goals, for us and against us,” Jones said. “This one was bittersweet, because it was the end of the regular season, but the sweet part was us coming through tonight.”

Jablonski’s game-winner came after countless attempts from Westlake came up just short. The sophomore forward decided to put matters into her own hands by not giving up on the play, even after an attempt was deflected and she saw Amherst goalkeeper Michelle Kissane go tumbling out of the picture. Jablonski’s resilience paid off as she connected on a header that was off a deflection right in front of the net that sailed past an Amherst defender for the score.

“I kept looking up at the clock and I knew I had to do it for my team. We needed this to win the title, and I’m proud of us,” Jablonski said. “I dove over the header and it was right over the goal line.”

The Demons (13-2-0, 8-1 SWC) played some of their most

aggressive soccer of the season, putting pressure on Amherst’s top-notch defense to come through once again. Westlake controlled possession through most of the match with pin-point passing that left Amherst and Kissane on their toes all evening.

Kissane had six firsthalf saves and finished with 12 saves.

Comets coach Gary Gonzalez knew it was going to be another tough matchup.

“First of all, that is a great team. We knew they were really aggressive and go right to goal, great off corner kicks and free kicks. We wanted to avoid those,” Gonzalez said.

He also knew the danger that Jablonski presented.

“We wanted to keep Jablonski’s back to goal as much as possible,” Gonzalez said.

In a game with so much at stake, it was fitting the match was moved to the high school stadium due to field conditions. The Demons came out attacking early and nearly connected with Julie Bogart’s kick that sailed just over the cross bar in the eighth minute.

Amherst quickly responded in the next minute as Sydney Schaefer capitalized on a Demon turnover, quickly booting into the back of the net for the score, giving the Comets a 1-0 lead.

The Comets (11-1-4, 5-1-3 SWC) had minimal shot attempts, mustering five shots-on-goal compared to 16 for the Demons.

In what proved to be the theme of the night, the Demons evened up the score with a header from Meredith Hansen, courtesy of Peyton Rimko from the corner.

The corner score was something Amherst’s Gonzalez

was worried about coming into the matchup.

“We wanted to limit their chances on free kicks and corners. It is one of the things you want to do against this team because they are really good at it,” Gonzalez said.

With his offense looking sluggish in the first half, Gonzalez was imploring his team to be more aggressive during halftime.

“If we wanted a chance at the conference, we had to win this game. We wanted to play some things differently and just had to go for it,” Gonzalez said.

The Comets had a few opportunities in the second-half but eventually came up short against Angela Campo and the Demons.

Campo saw little action, notching three saves.

After missing out on a chance at the conference crown, Amherst will turn its attention to the Division I Elyria District tournament, where it is the No. 3 seed and could likely see some familiar faces down the line.

“I like my team. We are in the same half of the bracket as Westlake, so hopefully we will get a chance in another couple of weeks to play them again,” Gonzalez said.

With his seventh SWC title, Jones hopes his players will celebrate but know that there is a tall task ahead, including getting everyone back to 100 percent.

“We will refocus and we’ll take a few days off. We don’t play again till over a week, so we’ll take a few days off and rest. We are not injured but we’re hurt,” Jones said. “We have to try and get right and be healthy and be the best we can be for the tournament.”

In his 16 years at Westlake, Jones has led his players to 13 district title game appearances.