GIRARD PUTS THE PRESSURE ON THE CLIPPERS
By Matt Maher
GIRARD, OH – On a hot Saturday afternoon the Indians played host to the Columbiana Clippers. Girard brought the energy and the pressure all game long and showed Columbiana what Girard soccer is all about.
Columbiana started early with the ball and had a nice early chance on Tuttle with a shot from the left angle serving just past Tuttle but also the net. The Clippers wouldn’t be able to sustain this pressure as Girard cranked it up and hammered the Clippers defense. It didn’t take long for Girard to score because with just over 33 minutes still to play, Logan Hernandez took a feed from Andrew Whitfield and Beat out Wilson Beckett for the games first tally.
The Indians wouldn’t stop their push and about 4 minutes later Hernandez found himself with the ball again and shot it off the inside of the post and rang it in to make it 2-0 Girard. The Clippers were overmatched all half and struggled to keep it out of their defensive zone. The Clips did get a few chances but any time they made it past the logo at midfield they were met by an aggressive Girard defense and couldn’t get around them.
The Indians wanted to get Hernandez his 3rd goal before half time, Whitfield continued to try feeding it to him but the passes never stuck. It took until the 8:51 mark on a broken play in front of the net with the ball bouncing all over the mouth of the goal for Hernandez to settle it down and quickly rip his hat-trick goal past Beckett. The Indians would take the 3 -0 lead into halftime.
Columbiana kicked off the first half and showed to be a bit more aggressive after the break but never truly found their attack. The game would stay 3-0 until with 28:06 left Hernandez found himself with a fourth goal. Less than 7 minutes later Andrew Whitfield would take a wicked shot from around 30 yards out to make it 5-0 Indians.
Girard kept attacking and less than a minute after Whitfield scored, so did Danielle Novello. It only took 2 minutes and 10 seconds after Novello for Michael Lamoreaux to put the final score for Giard past Beckett. The Indians were on fire but eventually that flame had to weaken.
Girard decided to make several substitutions in the last 25 minutes including on defense which was the break Columbiana needed. With 15:42 still to play Rocco Mediate powered past the defense and ripped his team’s first tally past Tuttle. It would be just less than 3 minutes of play for him to do it twice and cap off the afternoons scoring.
Girard looked energized and ready to play and that energy helped fuel their 7-2 victory over the Clippers. Columbiana (3-1) moved on to Waterloo on August 31st at Noon while Girard (2-1-1) drive across Belmont to take on Liberty for rivalry week on August 29th at 6PM.
