The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Demons spoil Comets SWC title share chance
With a goal in the 18th minute by freshman Anna Williams, Westlake got ahead of Amherst. The Demons stymied the Comets’ offense for the rest of the evening, resulting in a heartbreaking loss.
Ominous clouds and dark skies loomed overhead prior to Amherst’s matchup against Westlake on Oct. 10. It was a foretelling sign of a gloomy night for the Comets.
Amherst lost a chance at its first-ever share of the Southwestern Conference championship as the Comets were silenced by Westlake on an 18th minute goal from freshman Anna Williams.
The early goal was all the Demons (7-6-2, 4-4-1 SWC) needed as they stymied the Comets (11-3-1, 7-1-1) offense throughout the evening, culminating in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss in front of the Amherst faithful at the Amherst Sports Complex.
A dejected coach Gary Gonzalez tried to wrap his head around the Comets’ off night.
“It’s incredibly frustrating all the way around,” Gonzalez said. “It was a mistake in the back and the team kind of went into a little bit of a panic mode and got away from what they are supposed to do. It’s tough.”
That mistake came 18 minutes in after a misplay allowed Westlake’s Williams to find an open shot after Comets goalkeeper Ainsley Steele went after the ball. Williams made sure to hit her mark.
“Our forward just went up and then the goalie came out and missed it. I just got the ball and put it right through the goal,” Williams said. “Yeah, we are really proud of it, because we really wanted to beat Amherst.”
Westlake’s bench and teammates erupted with joy for the huge goal.
“They were really happy and proud,” Williams said. “We’re really excited because we needed this win today.”
Trailing 1-0, Gonzalez
tried to get the Comets refocused at halftime.
“We tried to calm them down at halftime and get them to play the way they play,” Gonzalez said. “It got a little better, but it was just tough to break into that defense. It was just tough to break down.”
The Demons’ defense allowed just two shots-ongoal for the Comets as they flustered Amherst into a desperate attempt to garner any kind of momentum as the clock continued to tick down in the second half.
“We had a game plan going into today, and obviously they have some very skilled players,” Demons coach Dane Rimko said. “Amherst is always a good battle. We executed our game plan and fortunately capitalized on a couple chances and we went from there.”
The Comets made an adjustment at halftime to try and spark some energy onto the field.
“We went into a dualattacking mid,” Gonzalez said. “It was just to try and remind them to put the ball back on the ground and look to play. But you got to hand it to them because they had like five backs, so it seemed like every time you would beat somebody, somebody else was going to be there.”
Amherst came inches away from an equalizer in the 56th minute as a scrum under the net and a kick into the top of the crossbar bounced back into play. The close call was one of the few on a night where it just didn’t seem like it was in the cards for a celebration for the home team.
Aggressive and physical play gifted the Comets with an eleventh-hour golden opportunity on a free kick from 25 yards out in the middle of the field. Amherst junior midfielder Lexy Alston took the kick as the Comets scrambled to approach the play with the clock ticking down in the 79th minute.
It sailed right into the top of the net, effectively ending Amherst’s chance at their first ever title.
Now, coach Gonzalez has a new task ahead of him as he tries to figure out how to wash away a painful loss before the playoffs.
“They are going to have to take a day or two and recover from this,” Gonzalez said. “It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be tough but we have to do it. When you have goals and one goal slips by, there is another one. The next one is the playoffs. This one we let get away tonight, but we have to go for a bigger prize now.”
Rimko looks to use the big win as a catalyst for a surprising deep run into the postseason.
“It’s good, we needed it,” Rimko said. “It’s definitely a momentum shift. It would have been nice a week ago when we were deciding the seeds, but I’ll take it any time I can. I’m very proud of the girls and they deserve it tonight for sure.”