Dover sweeps soccer double-header over rival
DOVER – Saturday saw the New Philadelphia-Dover rivalry play out in two soccer matches at Crater stadium. Dover won both.
The Tornado girls triumphed 3-0 behind goals from Abby Jones, Bridget McCrate, and Ava Zobel.
The Dover boys were victorious 3-2, with the Quakers making it close late after falling behind 3-0.. Elliot Brady and Preston Rieger scored for New Philadelphia.
The rivalry continues Monday in volleyball with New Philadelphia at Dover, starting with freshmen at 5 p.m.
Dover Girls Soccer Coach James Kline:
Photos courtesy of Memories by Lois
This storied rivalry needs no introduction and the mood before the game was way calmer than expected. We talked to the girls about keeping their emotions under control so that we didn’t over-commit throughout the game.
Luckily for us, we were able to get on the scoreboard early which made the game a lot easier. The first goal is always the hardest. When you are able to find an early one it takes a lot of the pressure off.
Five minutes into the game, Carley Noretto beat two Phila defenders and played a great ball across the box to find a wide-open Abby Jones who one-touched it past the goalkeeper for our first goal.
After that, we continued to find chances, and 10 minutes later, after earning a free kick, Bridget McCrate hit a rocket that the goalkeeper couldn’t save for our second goal. Once Bridget scored, it seemed like we took our foot off the gas pedal and were content with being up 2-0. We looked flat and disconnected for the rest of the first half.
During the half, we got into the girls a bit because we’ve had a lot of conversations about not playing at our opponent’s level. We are trying to get to the point where we play at a certain level no matter the opponent or the score on the board.
During the second half, we looked to play at a different level of energy and looked really sharp for the first 10 to 15 minutes. Unfortunately, you still have to execute at all levels to score goals and we couldn’t execute that final phase of putting the ball in the back of the net.
Thankfully, we did it one more time with five minutes left in the game, Ava Zobel got a nice ball from Belen Bravo-Angel, took a nice touch across her body, and scored her first goal of the season. Scoring goals in soccer isn’t an easy thing and we will continue to work to be hungrier to find goals.
Overall, we did what we wanted. We won the game, kept a shutout, and everyone on the roster got on the field. Those minutes are critical for our younger players to develop and have that big crowd and game experience. Now, we need to focus and find two more wins this week against Minerva and Zanesville before we get a nice mental and physical break with the Labor Day weekend.
Goals
5:05 – Abby Jones from Carley Noretto
15:26 – Bridget McCrate
74:56 – Ava Zobel from Belen Bravo Angel