Boys Soccer: Aggressive Firelands tops rival Vermilion in opener

VERMILION — For the third time in four years, the Stillman Cup made its way down Vermilion Road to Firelands High School following the boys soccer season opener for Firelands and Vermilion. The Falcons were the aggressors from the opening kick, scoring three times in the opening half, and cruised to a 4-1 win Friday on the Sailors' home field. "We worked really hard in the preseason, so it feels really good to win this game, we were pretty prepared," Firelands coach Bill Yakunovich said. "I thought we were definitely more aggressive than Vermilion." The Falcons controlled the tempo with quick and efficient ball movement that resulted in numerous scoring chances, but it wasn't until the 19:01 mark of the half when senior Mikey Janosik crossed a ball in from the right side to the foot of Jayden Becker, who beat Sailor' goalie Brett Blackham, who turned away 17 shots on goal. The Falcons kept up the offensive pressure and one Janosik brother, sophomore Tristan, sent a corner kick to Mikey, who scored on a header with 11:35 left in the first half. "It's the first game and you really can't decide the season on this, but it is a very good first game and we have a lot more to accomplish this season," said Mikey Janosik, who moved from midfield to forward this year. "The Stillman Cup is the biggest thing, I look forward to it every year. This is one of the biggest games that I play in." It took nearly 30 minutes for Vermilion to get its first quality attempt, when Noah Penton attempted a free kick from about 20 yards, but it missed the mark, leaving Firelands up 2-0. About five minutes later, Becker scored his second of the night when he came up with a Vermilion turnover to score unassisted at 5:47 to go up 3-0. The Sailors finally got on the board when Penton tried another free kick and was able to find the upper 90 from 25 yards out against Firelands goalie Ashton Lutz (two saves) to cut the lead to 3-1 with 30:32 left in the game. Penton had a third free kick attempt six minutes later that missed the mark, but Mikey Janosik didn't miss on another set piece from his brother's corner kick to finish off the scoring with 11:13 left on the clock. "I think in the first half, they played with more of an edge than we did and that was the difference," Sailors coach Kurt Innes said. "They challenged 50/50 balls way harder than we did and won a lot of them. (Firelands) just asserted themselves more into the game than we did." Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Firelands 4, Vermilion 1 GOALS: (F) Mikey Janosik 2, Jayden Becker 2; (V) Noah Penton.ASSISTS: (F) Tristan Janosik 2, Becker.SHOTS ON GOAL: (F) 21; (V) 3.SAVES: (F) Ashton Lutz 2; (V) Brett Blackham 17.CORNER KICKS: (F) 9; (V) 1.FOULS: (F) 10; (V) 5.YELLOW CARDS: (F) Becker.HALFTIME: Firelands, 3-1.