The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Panthers fall victim to Kirtland’s set plays
Disciplined Kirtland side shuts out Panthers in Division III regional final
Watching Kirtland a few years ago win a regional championship, sophomore Maya Zovko wanted to experience the same feeling.
At Twinsburg High School, Zovko scored a pair of goals and the defense kept Elyria Catholic in check as Kirtland captured the Division III, Region 9 regional championship with a 5-0 win Nov. 4.
‘I feel nothing but excited and happy for our next game,” Zovko said. “It’s all coming down to how we’re working hard and it’s all paying off. It’s amazing.
“It feels awesome … being here is just surreal.”
It was Zovko who scored Kirtland’s (14-4-3) first goal of the game. Pushing the ball into the Elyria Catholic end, the loose ball in the goalie box found its way to Zovko’s foot. Losing her left shoe in the process, Zovko put the ball past Panthers goalie Megan Scheilbelhut with 26:57 left in the first half.
The Panthers (15-6) had a chance to tie the game less than three minutes later, but a free
kick hit the crossbar and bounced away.
Continuing to put pressure on the Panthers’ back end, Kirtland put itself in position with a corner kick. Lilia Valentic rifled a line drive from the corner with Jenna Sayle putting a foot on it to give the Hornets a 2-0 lead late in the first half. Before Kirtland’s second goal, the Panthers lost MaKenna Hodges to a knee injury for the rest of the game.
“We practice it (set plays) every day and in practice it doesn’t look that good,” Kirtland coach Edward Bradac said. “I wish I could say it looks like that all the time … we know at this time of the year it’s going to come down to a set play.”
Things got a little chippy early in the second half with a pair of yellow cards being handed out to the Panthers. Neither team scored until another set play allowed the Hornets to add to their lead.
Off another set play, Hannah Voul rifled the corner kick with Katie McCollister replicating Zovko’s move to make it 3-0.
“I thought we were playing our game and things were going pretty well,” Elyria Catholic coach Ryan Manner said. “It’s just we knew coming in they were very strong on set plays. We knew it was coming and we couldn’t stop it … those set plays really bit us.”
While the set play worked for Kirtland, the defense they played was outstanding.
Elyria Catholic senior Ryan Kunkle, who scored 33 goals in the regular season, was marked almost the entire game by Tea Petric. Playing a deep line as well, the Panthers were stymied as they tried to get into the attacking zone.
“They definitely knew I was kind of like the girl to get the ball up on top,” Kunkle said. “Whenever Emilie (Uhnak) or Makenna gets the ball, they are always looking for me … they played well.
“It was a great season. I wish we could have gone farther, but ending with them right here all together fighting as hard as we did … couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Zovko scored her second goal with three minutes left in regulation, while Mia Rini scored the final goal.