The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Errors cause Bay collapse in regional final
Late surge not enough to overcome Madison’s lead
When a regional title is on the line, and with it a berth in a state semifinal, the smallest errors can make the difference.
A pair of Bay defensive errors on Nov. 4 provided Mansfield Madison with two goals in the second half. It was enough to give the Rams a 2-1 win in the Division II, Region 6 final at Strongsville High School that ended Bay’s season.
Though the Rockets (153-3) scored late to make the end of the game interesting, they missed on close chances earlier in the game.
“We had a few opportunities in the first half that we just didn’t convert, and if we convert those it’s maybe a different game,” Bay coach Jack Griffiths said. “In the second half, we made a couple mistakes. I’m still trying to figure out what happened on the first goal. The ball kind of came through and no one really looked for it. I don’t know if the goalie called for it or not. On the second one, we just had a mistake.”
Shortly after halftime, senior midfielder Tara Andrews got her foot on the end of Taylor Huff’s free kick and put it past Bay goalkeeper Maeve Johnston for the game’s opening goal. Fifteen minutes later, the Rams (21-1), ranked No. 6 in the state soccer coaches poll, extended the lead on sophomore Kalie Blaising’s long strike for a 2-0 advantage.
On the winning goal, Madison had possession in Bay’s end of the field when the ball came to Blaising’s feet outside the right edge of the 18-yard box. She took a low shot toward the left corner that Johnston didn’t save cleanly as the ball trickled into the back of the net.
Senior midfielder Autumn Meisenburg scored for 10th-ranked Bay with less than five minutes to play in the game, heading the ball by Madison goalkeeper Mackenzie Mullins. Maddie Ault was on the end of a long free kick from Haylee Duffy toward the left edge of the 18-yard box that Ault headed toward goal, and Meisenburg — who had three goals in the 8-1 regional semifinal win against Toledo Central Catholic — beat Mullins to it and headed it past her.
“I like the life we had in the last seven minutes with the header goal to make it 2-1, and I thought, maybe, but they started playing long balls and the clock went fast,” Griffiths said.
Unfortunately, Bay couldn’t finish its other scoring chances throughout the game.
Bay’s best scoring chance in the first half came with six minutes remaining as Ault drove a low pass across the face of the goal that Avery Alexy just missed at the back post. On the ensuing corner kick, Mullins fell onto a loose ball in front of her goal. She finished the game with four saves.
“They were tough. I think we had four or five chances in the first half and they were good looks and good shots, just not good enough,” Griffiths said of the Rams defense. Madison hasn’t lost since Aug. 31. “I told them (Madison) is 20-1 for a reason, and when you have good opportunities, you’ve got to put them away. We didn’t, and they made their two count.”
Midway through the second half, Madison had two close-range shots from Huff and Chesney Davis, but Johnston denied both. Johnston, a junior, made four saves in the second half, and sophomore Gigi Merk made one in the first half.
Winners of a regional title last year, the Rockets will graduate nine seniors from this fall’s team — three of whom were starters.
“A lot of people were wondering if we could get back here because we graduated a lot of seniors. Maddie and Autumn really stepped up and filled that role,” Griffiths said. “We try to play good teams so when games are like this we can compete, and we competed. I don’t think we were nervous — it was a one-goal game.”