Girls soccer: Sophomores lead Firelands to shutout win over Oberlin

SOUTH AMHERST — It was unofficially 'sophomore' night for Firelands on Wednesday as a pair of sophomores each scored a pair of goals and the Falcons turned back Oberlin 6-0 at South Amherst Field. Reagan Sutorius and Addie Schrader took turns pounding in goals as the Falcons improved to 4-3-1 overall and 3-0-1 in Lorain County League play. Junior Peyton West provided three assists and scored one goal and senior Hazel Littleton added the icing with the final goal of the evening. Sophomore goaltender Ava Huston was credited with the shutout after making four saves for the Falcons. Sutorius got things going, scoring off a nice centering pass from West with 25:04 to play in the first half. "The midfield really helps connect the passes," Sutorius said. "It's just the extra passes that helps. We had pretty good connections (on offense) and the defense is fantastic." "We're doing really good lately," Schrader said. "We're getting in our rhythm and doing a lot better passing-wise. We've worked a lot on passes and it's helped a lot." "We've been playing a tough schedule up to this point," Firelands coach Kevin Zeigler said. "I thought we played a little sluggish in the first half but we still got done what we needed to do." Two goals within a minute of each other in the first half took the starch out of the Phoenix. Sutorius popped one in right in front of the goal with 17:32 remaining in the half and Schrader broke free to score with 17:07 left, but Oberlin coach Ben Eiskamp felt the first Falcons goal was the back-breaker. "That hurt," Eiskamp said. "But the first one was the one that got me because the girl was offside. I'm just going to say it. The girl was offside and was able to play through. They score a goal and that was a crusher. That hurts the team morale because then you don't know what's going to be called." Zeigler felt the goal gave the Falcons a lift. "We played a little better after that," Zeigler said. "Our defense is pretty good. We don't give up a whole lot of shots on goal. Overall, I thought we played a nice game. Even when I put my reserves in, they did what they were supposed to do. "Oberlin's a quality team. They're having a good season. It was a nice win for us." Oberlin fell to 4-2-1 overall and 1-2-1 in league play. West scored on a long arching shot from the left side to start the second half scoring with 29:04 to play and then booted a long pass ahead to Schrader for a 5-0 lead a minute later. West, on a penalty kick from the left side, found Littleton in front and she headed it into the goal to complete the scoring with 25:11 still to play. Both schools have big challenges coming up. Firelands is at Brookside on Saturday and hosts Columbia next Wednesday. Oberlin hosts Elyria Catholic on Saturday and Wellington on Monday. "We've got a big game Saturday against EC," Eiskamp said. "They're an excellently coached team. Jose (Perez) does a great job there. We've got to come out and be prepared." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Firelands 6, Oberlin 0 GOALS: (F) Reagon Sutorius 2, Addie Schrader 2, Peyton West, Hazel Littleton. ASSISTS: (F) West 3. SHOTS ON GOAL: Oberlin 6, Firelands 17. SAVES: (O) Michaela Streator 9. (F) Ava Huston 4. CORNER KICKS: Oberlin 1, Firelands 3. PENALTY/FREE KICKS: Oberlin 6, Firelands 6. YELLOW CARDS: Oberlin (Kylie Walter). HALFTIME: Firelands, 3-0.