By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
PEMBERVILLE — Eastwood and Lake battled to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday in a battle of two of the top Northern Buckeye Conference squads as several young stars made their imprints on the outcome.
“Our message has been that every league game is going to be a battle, especially now that we only play our league teams one time,” Eastwood coach Julie Cross said. “Really every single league game is almost like playing for a league championship.
“We knew Lake was going to bring their best. Lake has a good program. I’m impressed with the girls. We were fighting until the end. We had chances right there at the end. They wanted it. We wanted it. All together, I think it was a fun game of soccer to watch.”
The host Eagles got a pair of goals from freshmen, including one from Lauren Schuerman less than two minutes in that stunned Lake.
Eastwood and Lake (3-0-3, 1-0-2 NBC) remained scoreless the rest of the half, although the Eagles failed to capitalize on multiple opportunities to add on as Schuerman had a shot go just wide with 29:11 left, while Riley Burtchin’s shot with 21 minutes left hit the crossbar.
“We knew going into this game it could be one of the hardest games we were going to play in the league,” Lake coach Lauren Colangelo said. “I’ve played against Eastwood a lot, coached against them a lot, and I know they have a great program and foundation.
“We knew it was going to be tough, but we knew we just had to play. Same thing I’ve been preaching since the beginning of the season, believe in yourself, believe in what we can do, go play hard.”
The Eagles (3-2-1, 1-0-1 NBC) worked for a pair of corners in the opening five minutes of the second half, and Lake had one just under eight minutes in.
Lake’s Savannah Little, who leads the team in scoring as a sophomore, then increased the pressure with a shot that went just wide 11 minutes into the half.
Little kept knocking, eventually delivering the game’s equalizer with 22:31 left.
Just 22 seconds later, though, another freshman answered for Eastwood as Karissa Nelson weaved her way past several Lake defenders and punched one into the right side of the net, just beyond the diving arms of Lake’s goalkeeper, Lauren Tobias.
With just over seven minutes left, Little answered again as she stole possession and received a pass, striking the ball without a dribble approximately 35 yards over Eastwood’s keeper, Jordan Jensen.
“I got the ball and I looked up,” Little said. “I knew I didn’t have space to drive, and I didn’t see anyone. I was mainly looking for the cross, but it ended up going in the back of the net. This was a big statement game for us. I’m proud of everyone.”
Tobias made a diving stop of a dangerous opportunity for Eastwood with 1:57 left, and the teams ultimately finished in a tie.
Cross was happy with the impact that her freshmen made on the game.
“It’s pretty impressive,” she said. “We have a lot of upperclassmen leaders who have helped our freshmen play a lot of minutes. We have a couple starters that have kind of shown them the way, working them through the pressure that comes with that. I’m super proud of all the girls.”
Piper Sutton assisted on Eastwood’s initial goal, while Riley Byington and Brooke Wiley assisted on Lake’s goals. Tobias finished with six saves.
“I told them all week that if we work hard, no matter what the outcome is, I’m going to be happy, and we worked our butts off,” Colangelo said. “I couldn’t be happier.”
