Chagrin Falls bows out in D-II elite eight

WARREN » A fall-afternoon shadow crept incrementally onto the pitch at Warren Howland on Nov. 7 amid a Division II regional final.

Unfortunately for a senior-laden Chagrin Falls side, darkness for this fall arrived a lot quicker than that, drawing the proverbial curtain on a breakthrough campaign.

Chagrin hung within a goal nearly to the hour mark, but Howland banged in four second-half strikes in less than 11 minutes to blow open a 6-1 victory.

The Tigers — the version that was the lone NewsHerald coverage area boys side remaining in the postseason — bows out at 18-3.

The Trumbull County version of the Tigers improves to 20-0-1 and will take on Lima Shawnee, a 2-1 extra-time winner over Lexington, in a D-II state semifinal at 7 p.m. Nov. 11.

“Coming out of that first 40, knowing that we had to pick it up a little bit, and we wanted to see what they were going to show us that first five minutes and we were going to go from there,” Chagrin coach Brian McKenna said. “When that third goal occurred, that’s when we said, ‘OK, we’ve got to go all in.’

“We pulled our keeper to put him on the field, and Jack Stauffer is an excellent field player. Before we could even get him on the field, we were down, 4-1. That’s when things snowballed.”

Down, 2-0, approaching halftime, Chagrin got a lifeline. In the 32nd minute, senior striker Zach Lechman capped a good bit of workrate on the counter with a right-footed strike tight inside the left post to make it a 2-1 match, Lechman’s fifth goal of 2020.

While the energy and combination play was better for about a 20-minute

WARREN HOWLAND 6, CHAGRIN FALLS 1

stretch from there, though, Chagrin had no consistent answer in the back for Howland’s dynamic attack, led by seniors Gabriel Altawil and Jordan Sperling, and ability to control a match.

Sperling and A ltaw il struck 12 seconds apart in the 63rd minute to open a 5-1 advantage and cap a threegoal spurt in a 4:17 span.

“I think the way they move off the ball up top is really deadly, and it’s tough to pick up when you’re focusing on the corner, and then you have three kids transitioning at the top of the box,” Chagrin senior center back J.T. Marting said. “They put their chances away, and that’s what ultimately won them the game today.”

As Howland celebrated its regional crown and a repeat trip to the final four postmatch, the regional runnerup trophy sat alone on the pitch adjacent to the Chagrin bench. Standout midfielder Ian Zitney, after the last match of a decorated career, peered over his shoulder, took a few strides toward it, picked it up and brought it back to the huddle.

Chagrin was making its first appearance in the D-II elite eight since 2008, eyeing its first state final four berth since 2003.

Darkness for this fall came quickly Nov. 7, but not before an 18-win campaign featuring a 13-0 start, 15 clean sheets, an extra-time district final win over Poland Seminary and a regional semifinal thriller of a result over Revere.

“I think we’ve made an impact with the memories we’ve built this year, making this far in the playoffs,” Marting said. “I hope that can impact the younger players, and they’ll be hungry for it like our senior class was. That’s the legacy I want to leave with this program.”