Perrysburg players celebrate a 3-1 Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division victory over Anthony Wayne Wednesday. (Drake Harlett | Sentinel-Tribune)
By Bryce Hudik
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
WHITEHOUSE — Perrysburg girls soccer made a statement Wednesday night at their rival’s home field, earning a crucial 3-1 Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division victory.
This came just weeks after Perrysburg suffered a loss on their home field to Anthony Wayne, cementing a long-awaited chance to avenge.
Although Perrysburg came out on top, they faced adversity early in a hostile environment. Anthony Wayne’s Lila Simon scored a goal deep in the box at 34:57 and it looked like the Generals were going to pick up where they left off in the team’s last matchup.
The Yellow Jackets had different plans though and from there on largely dominated the game, playing with their tails on fire it was clear they wanted it more.
Camille Francis knotted the game up with 11:01 remaining. A nifty little move, she flicked the ball to her left side while being pestered by a host of Generals and placed a perfect ball in the bottom right corner of the net, making the score 1-1 heading into the half.
“It was a game we put on our refrigerators and circled. We knew that this was the day we needed to play our best game, and the girls stepped it up,” said Perrysburg coach Jorge Diaz.
The second half was all Yellow Jackets. The goal that gave them the lead came off the foot of sophomore Lauren McConnachie. An unlikely goal at 38:57, McConnachie scored it off the right side from way downtown, shooting the ball just over the AW goalkeeper and into the left side of the net.
“It feels amazing. We knew we had to come out with win, we couldn’t tie or lose. We worked our butts off and played as a team, it feels good to know we’re back in it,” said McConnachie.
The game went in a stalemate with both teams getting good looks at the net, but Anthony Wayne had several good looks at the net and put pressure on Perrysburg’s one score lead.
Other than AW tying the game, Francis had other plans when she slammed the door shut on AW’s hopes, snagging a late goal. Coming with 5:49 remaining, she sent the ball into the top shelf, deep from midfield, putting Perrysburg up by two scores.
AW had to settle for allowing Perrysburg to put both teams into a first place tie.
“I felt like our energy maybe wasn’t where it needed to be. We would’ve liked to have had the ball a little bit more and I thought we had a lot of turnovers. It’s a chance for us to watch some film, learn and get better,” said Anthony Wayne coach Lori Williams.
This loss snapped Anthony Wayne’s 10-game undefeated streak, and both teams are 4-1 in the NLL Buckeye Division.
Perrysburg is 6-3 on the year and their next matchup will be this Monday when they face Buckeye Division foe Toledo Whitmer for the second time, this time at Steinecker Stadium.
