The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Chardon sees out result, edges Wickliffe
Jenna Oriani showed she knows how to bring home a result on the Memorial Field pitch during the fall as well.
The track is next door at Chardon. But Sept. 19 against visiting Wickliffe, Jenna Oriani showed she knows how to bring home a result on the Memorial Field pitch during the fall as well.
Oriani had the decisive strike in the second half and Ryleigh Robinson contributed an opening-half penalty kick and paced a solid defensivethird effort as the Hilltoppers edged the visiting Blue Devils, 2-1.
Albeit only their fourth meeting all-time, it marks the first win for Chardon (5-4) over Wickliffe (3-4-1) in girls soccer. Hilltoppers coach Chad Johnston was pleased to watch his side see out a result.
“We’ve had a long week,” Johnston said. “That was our third game this week, and you don’t get a lot of those threegame weeks. Our legs looked a little heavy that first 10-15 for sure, when they ended up getting their goal. But we really started clicking there at the end of the first half.
“(Blue Devils goalkeeper Kaylee Lauriel) played a great game. She really kept them in the game. But we’re a young team and returning very few people from last year’s team. We’re halfway through — no scrimmages this year, minus those first three games. We’re really starting to click.”
Wickliffe took a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute. In the aftermath of a corner kick cleared from the box, Morgan Gabriel gathered the touch before it reached the touchline and tried her luck with a rightfooted floater. It was wellplaced under the crossbar and just across the line for the senior striker’s fourth goal of 2020.
Chardon equalized in the 25th. After a handball call in the box, Robinson stepped to the spot and did well with a rightfooted strike to make it a 1-1 match.
Oriani had to work to find pockets of space in the attack as the Blue Devils employed a stoppersweeper combo.
But one of the premier 200- and 400-meter runners in Ohio found that space in the 46th, collecting a through ball and slotting a right-footed strike.
“We try to get through balls to me so I can run and get it,” Oriani said of her ninth goal of the fall. “I have a lot of turf burns from sliding, but they’re worth it if I get a goal in the end.”
Wickliffe had intermittent bits of quality combo work, especially in the
opening 40, and possessed nicely in the second half.
The highlight of the match for the Blue Devils, though, was Lauriel. The senior goalkeeper impressed in a nine-save afternoon, including a double point-blank stop near post on Kayla Oriani in the 13th minute.
“Kaylee had a great match,” Wickliffe coach Steve Gribovicz said. “She has been playing phenomenal all season. We had four of our five defenders graduate last year, so we’ve got new faces back there. We had a couple of our offensive players and made them into defenders, so it takes a little time to build that chemistry.
“Kaylee has been working with them, and she’s there stopping shots, multiple saves a game. She is really keeping us in every game.”
After a three-match week, the Hilltoppers’ road is daunting coming up, traveling to Mayfield on Sept. 22 and hosting Kirtland on Sept. 24. So seeing out a tight result was welcome.
“Honestly, all of our games have been close this year,” Oriani said. “We had a (3-0 win over Harvey) this week, but we’ve had to work really hard for our wins. So it’s really nice getting a win after a tough game like this.”