Lake headed back to state

TWINSBURG » Forget rhythmic combination play or pretty diagonal service.

Sometimes, seeing through results on the big stages comes down to toughness.

Nov. 3 in a Division II regional final against Revere, Lake Catholic stepped on a stage that, prior to last year, was cruel.

And for the second straight year, the Cougars flexed on center stage on elite-eight Saturday – tough, tenacious and triumphant.

Keka Babic’s second-half strike was the separator as Lake edged out a 2-1 win at Twinsburg.

The Cougars (14-5-1) will take on Bay, a 4-0 winner over Wapakoneta, in a D-II state semifinal at 7 p.m. Nov. 6 at Nordonia.

Lake essentially had to launch into survival mode in the back in the last 15 minutes to make Babic’s goal stand, and the defensive-third play matched the moment.

“Well, Revere is good, right?” Cougars coach Chris Hastings said as his side gathered for celebratory postmatch pictures in the south goalmouth. “They had three really good players in the attack, and they had a couple good players in the back. So when they’re pressing to get goals, we’re sitting back, absorbing pressure. You’re going to take it. They’re going to throw people up.

“Keka obviously comes through for us, and you expect it. She’s a top-level player. She should be on the (All-Ohio) team. She’s just a good player. She stepped into a dominant role for us, and it’s fantastic.”

Locked in a 1-1 match, Babic worked hard in the 52nd minute to latch onto a deep throwin to space in the back left corner. Amid tight marking, the senior striker played a quality parallel touch to the endline, then used her second touch on the endline to set up a toepoke on the six. The strike skimmed the ankle of a Revere defender but appeared destined to go side net anyway for her 22nd goal of the season.

“I got it from a throw-in, and I knew there was a girl on my back,” Babic said. “So I kind of shifted to my left and then shifted back. I took on the corner, and I saw an opportunity to score, so I toepoked it and it went in.

“I am so proud and excited. At the beginning of the game, we scored our first goal (Kennedy Rieple in the ninth minute), then they got back at us. We were just trying to work and get our workflow going. But it’s just composure and confidence that you’ve got to get through it back there. (Our defensive-third group) did amazing today.”

Rieple’s early strike was canceled out by a penalty kick 76 seconds later by the Minutemen (12-4-5). Revere generated six shots on target, four after halftime, and looked the part of a dangerous side down the stretch seeking an equalizer.

But Lake turned in a shift to see through the result. The back four, with Ali Morgan at sweeper, Gianna Salatino at stopper and later rightback and outside backs Julia Marusic, Grace Mohr and Rieple did well to hang in and not get rattled. The midfield ballwinning, paced by Andrea Babic and a returning Giuliana Grgic, was also solid.