Girls soccer: North Ridgeville rallies to beat Elyria

NORTH RIDGEVILLE – Unassisted goals by junior Addy Schuster and freshman Vivian Caine in the final nine minutes lifted the North Ridgeville girls soccer team to 3-1 win over Elyria on Wednesday at Ranger Stadium. The victory lifted North Ridgeville to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the Southwestern Conference. Elyria slipped to 3-2 overall, 0-2 in the SWC. North Ridgeville outscored Elyria by a combined 39-0 in its last five meetings with the Pioneers dating back to 2019. The Rangers outshot the Pioneers 13-4 in the first half Wednesday. Elyria refused lie down and made it game until the last nine minutes. Schuster broke a 1-1 tie with a goal to the far right post from 10 yards out with 8:43 left to play. Caine followed up with her second goal of the game with 3:32 left. "All of us kind of just realized that in order to win a game like that we needed to play with heart as opposed to talent," said Schuster. "Our team has so much talent, but in order to win that game we needed heart. We just decided that we had to put everything out there for a result. I think that's why we ended up having success." North Ridgeville dominated shots on goal the first half, but Elyria found a way to keep the decision up in the air. Junior Ehlaia Simmons of Elyria drew the equalizer with 6:51 left in the first half off an assist by senior defender Julien Dejaney. "We kind of started the season from the bottom and built up," said Schuster. "A win like this really goes to show how amazing we are together and persevere through all the challenges we've been through. It shows that playing with heart really matters." Caine put North Ridgeville on the board first to open the game, scoring at 26:56 of the first half off an assist by senior Hailey Czech. "I feel like at the end we all work together as a team and that helps a lot because all the pieces are moving together and everything," said Caine. "This win means a lot because it shows how we're going to do moving forward and how our team can grow to work together more. It's a great boost of confidence getting to work with older teammates like Addy and all of them. It helps you how to work with different people." Both North Ridgeville and Elyria field very young rosters with first-year head coaches. The Rangers field nine freshmen, including four that started Wednesday. The Pioneers have four freshmen, including two starters. "We talked a lot about how complacency will kill," said North Ridgeville coach Scot Santa. "We want to possess the ball and keep the ball. That's our little baby. We want to keep doing that. We weren't doing that the whole game. We had to keep reminding the girls to play the way we know how and trust that the result will come. "Elyria put up a heck of a fight. We talked about how they beat us to almost every 50-50 ball, up until those last nine minutes. We finally kind of turned it on, but they put up a heck of fight. Their goalkeeper (Jayden Daberkow) kept us out of the goal with four blank saves. "We kept creating chances but that's the hardest thing to do in soccer, to put the ball in the back of the net. We have to keep talking to these girls to make sure that they know how to keep trusting what they're doing. In the end if we know what we're doing, it will all work out." It was another tough setback for Elyria, which was looking for its first SWC win since Aug. 31, 2022 when Elyria beat Berea-Midpark, 4-1. "I think we did very well," said Simmons. "We came out with a lot of energy. We did both halves, but we couldn't get the other goals that we needed. We did very well and kept up our energy. We have to make the most of our opportunities." North Ridgeville outshot Elyria, 29-8. Daberkow amassed 15 saves in goal for the Pioneers. "We are growing. We are trying to get better, better every game," said Elyria coach Emil Haitonic. "We like games like this because it helps to show us where we stand. I think the girls enjoyed the tough game that we had, but we still have room to improve and to get better." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. GOALS: North Ridgeville – Vivian Caine 2, Addy Schuster. Elyria – Ehlaia SimmonsASSISTS: North Ridgeville – Hailey Czech. Elyria – Julien DejaneySHOTS ON GOAL: North Ridgeville 29. Elyria 8SAVES: Brynn Blakemore (North Ridgeville), 4. Jayden Daberkow (Elyria), 15PENALTY/FREE KICKS: North Ridgeville 6, Elyria 4CORNER KICKS: North Ridgeville 6, Elyria 1YELLOW CARDS: Aubrey Jaycox (Elyria), coach Scot Santa (North Ridgeville), Ryleigh Hemphill (Elyria)HALFTIME: 1-1