High school soccer: Highland girls pick up play to salvage tie with Revere

GRANGER TWP. — A tie isn't as good as a win, but it's certainly better than a loss. That was the viewpoint of Grace Madison and Ella Rasey after the Highland girls soccer team picked up its play in the second half Wednesday night to salvage a 1-1 tie with Revere in Suburban League American Conference play. "I definitely feel like we could have played better, especially in the first half," said Madison, who scored her team's goal with 19:22 to play. "But I'm pretty happy we got a tie instead of a loss." Keeper Rasey, who stopped nine of the 10 shots she faced, just wished her team would have played the first half with the same aggressiveness and commitment it displayed in the second. "I feel like we could have come out stronger," she said. "We could have fought from the start instead of just the second half." The Minutemen (5-3-2, 3-0-1), who dominated the Hornets (5-1-3, 3-0-1) over the first 40 minutes, took a 1-0 lead just 2:14 into the game when speedy forward Morgan Fee took a fantastic through-ball that traveled more than 35 yards and beat a helpless Rasey. Repeatedly beating the Hornets to 50/50 balls, Revere continued to dominate while outshooting Highland 7-2 in the first half. The Hornets dodged a possible penalty in the box with 33:33 left, then avoided going down 2-0 when Fee, easily the best player on the field in the first half, had a shot from the top of the box go off the crossbar near the 11-minute mark. On their heels and struggling to so much as advance the ball past midfield, the Hornets' only legitimate scoring opportunity came when Ella Dinwiddie fed Ciara Santiago in the box, but Santiago couldn't get enough on her shot and Revere's Olivia Papouras made the save. "In the first half, we kept overreacting to the ball and got beat on the sidelines," Rasey said. "Their outside forward (Fee) was fast, but we got caught up in it." The Minutemen also seemed to want the ball more than Highland. "We let them control the game," Madison said. "They were getting first and second touches and we just let them have it." Fortunately for the Hornets, they were only down a goal at intermission. "We were pretty mad at halftime," Madison said. "We were fired up. After that first goal, we had everything going our way." That goal came after Revere's Papouras made a diving stop on an initial Highland shot but couldn't secure the ball, which bounced to Madison about 10 feet in front of the goal. "I just saw the ball come to me and hit it in," the freshman said. "It was really exciting for me to score a goal that tied the game." Ninety seconds before her goal, Madison had taken a great feed from Holly Latham, only to have her shot trickle just to the right. From that point on, though, the Hornets played much better, while the Minutemen, who didn't substitute until 25:50 was left in the game, appeared to tire. Highland had a 4-3 edge in shots on goal and 1-0 advantage in corner kicks in the second half. Two of those Hornets shots came from distance but were easily stopped as Highland and Revere fell behind Copley (8-1-2, 4-0) in the SL American standings. Neither team has played the Indians. "We stopped chasing as much and we communicated more as a team," Rasey said. "That brought us closer together and we fought more. "I could tell (Revere players) were getting mad at each other. They started to scream at each other, which caused them not to play as a team." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter. Revere 1, Highland 1 REVERE 1 0 — 1 HIGHLAND 0 1 — 1 First R — Morgan Fee, 37:46. Second H — Grace Madison, 19:22. Shots on goal — Revere 10, Highland 6. Corner kicks — Revere 2, Highland 2. Saves — Olivia Papouras (R) 5, Ella Rasey (H) 9. Records — Revere (5-3-2, 3-0-1), Highland (5-1-3, 3-0-1). Junior varsity — Highland 2, Revere 0.