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Chagrin booters make moves in second season
(by Steve Novak - October 22, 2008)
Chagrin booters make moves in second season
By STEVE NOVAK
For those high schools both lucky and good enough, there is a second season of soccer just beginning.
The second season is called the playoffs. All that you have to do is keep on winning to stay alive. For the Chagrin Falls boys' and girls' soccer teams, winning has already become something of a habit throughout the regular season.
The girls' team (15-1-3) was ranked third in the state in the Ohio Soccer Coaches' Association poll.
Coach Pam Malone said the losses came against tough teams, and it was part of the plan for the season to schedule some teams that would provide an extra challenge.
"We try to toughen up our schedule at the end of the year to get ready for the playoffs," she said. "We try to finish up strong. We're trying to keep up some of that intensity in practice right now."
The Tigers opened playoff action with a 9-0 win over Waterloo and followed that up with a 2-1 win over St. Thomas Aquinas in a Kent district semifinal Monday. Junior Erika "Cookie" Ilkanich and junior Caroline Smith scored the goals.
Malone said the team was led during the regular season by senior forward Megan Takacs and Smith.
The team leader in assists is Ilkanich, a midfielder. Malone said there is a tactical reason for her high number of assists.
"We've worked on a lot of our set plays. This year, 15 of the 37 goals we scored (in regular season) came from corner kicks. Cookie had assists in 11 of these 15 goals," she said.
Postseason success is nothing new for Malone's teams. Last year, the Tigers had a 13-6-3 record and advanced all the way to the regional final. Malone said this season's team has spread the wealth in putting the ball into the net.
"The team is so close in scoring. The scoring has been peppered with different players," she said. "It's not just one person that the other team can mark out."
As for the Chagrin Falls boys' team, the Tigers finished the regular season with a record of 14-1-1. The only loss came against Bay Village in the opening game of the season. The tie came in a contest against Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin.
In the opening playoff game against Painesville Harvey, coach Mario Gerhardt's Tigers rang up a 6-0 victory.
The Tigers already had a 5-0 lead at the end of the first half. Bob Casarona scored two goals and Vince Coleman, Chris Flesher and Kyle Hayes added first-half tallies. The sixth goal, scored in the second half, was by Oliver Mason.
During the regular season, the scoring leader was junior forward Andy Garvin with 10 goals. Next was senior forward Kyle Hayes with eight goals. Junior Bob Casarona, senior Vince Coleman and junior Ted Cunningham were tied for third place.
Gerhardt said there is a simple reason why his team has had such success so far this year. All of his players play soccer in other leagues in the off-season.
"We have good players who play all year round," Gerhardt said. "They are all good friends, and they have some good skills."
Gerhardt also said there's no use to try to predict how a team will do in postseason. There's too many variables, and too much on the line for both teams involved in a playoff game.
"Today, I was watching us at practice, and I was thinking we are good enough that we can beat any team," Gerhardt said. "But other times, among average teams, we struggle. "At this time of year, every game is a new season."
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