Bowling Green’s Kylah Crawford (right) looks to make a move on a Sandusky Perkins defender in Saturday’s district championship game. (Nicholas Huenefeld | Sentinel-Tribune)
By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
MILLBURY — The Bowling Green High School girls soccer team suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Sandusky Perkins in a Division III district championship on Saturday inside Lake Community Stadium.
“I’m proud of the girls for playing hard and not giving up after the goal went in, actually coming out and playing a little stronger after it went in,” BG coach Erika Kimple said. “It’s unfortunate to have our season end on an own goal, but that’s nobody’s specific fault. I think we had the opportunities. I’m proud of them, and I think we’ll be here next year.”
Sandusky Perkins (15-1-2) was the beneficiary of an own goal with 30:41 left in the second half, and they out-shot the Bobcats 10-2 in the final 40 minutes, which included five saves from BG’s Yari Corado in goal.
Among those 10 shots was a muffed easy goal opportunity in front of the goal, which went high and over the goal just 40 seconds into the half.
Corado, though, made some athletic saves, including a dive to her left with 37:03 left.
“I think we just pushed forward a little better and that created a little more space in behind for them because we sent some people forward,” Kimple said of the double-digit opportunities for Perkins in the second half.
“We told them to stop playing so conservative, and we wanted them to press a little harder because I don’t think we pressed like I wanted in the first half. When that happens, that’s just going to create some goal-scoring opportunities.”
The Bobcats (9-9-2) had a couple opportunities over the final 40 minutes. Leah Koester had a header that sailed high with 34:30 left, and Alayna Mahan saw a shot go wide with 18:54 remaining.
BG also had a pair of corners with just over 14 minutes left, but couldn’t find the game-tying goal.
“We didn’t start as strong as we probably could have but I thought we got better and better as the game went on,” Kimple said. “I thought our second half was pretty strong, especially after they scored. We played really well. We played really good soccer.
“I’m proud of them for making it here, especially after the way we started the season. To be able to come back from that and to continuously get better and better is great, especially as we have a really young team.”
In the first half, BG’s Allison Hover had the game’s first chance, but her shot was deflected just under three minutes in.
Perkins had three shots over the next 13 minutes, a stretch that included an offsides call on a potential goal and a shot with 24:04 left that Corado went to the ground to stop.
With 18:53 remaining, Perkins thought they had the game’s initial goal, but after discussion it was ruled that the offensive player committed a foul before the ball crossed the goal line.
With the loss, the Bobcats concluded a stellar season in which they overcame an 0-5 start to reach the district final for the first time since 2012.
“I’m just really impressed with how much better we’ve gotten from year-to-year,” Kimple said. “The responsibility and accountability of the kids in the offseason has improved a lot, and that’s part of the reason we’re here now.”
Kimple doesn’t have a lot of players who play club, and she said they get together for open gyms in the spring, and the non-winter sport players have dedicated themselves to weights in January.
“I think their understanding of the game has improved,” she said. “Their technical ability has improved, and just their willingness to compete. That was a game changer for us on Wednesday, that willingness to compete. I thought we may have lacked that a little bit at the start today. We may have been a little nervous.”
