Girls soccer: Cloverleaf gets statement win over Copley, stays undefeated

WESTFIELD TWP. — The Cloverleaf girls soccer team just keeps rolling along. Monday night the Colts picked up a statement win over Copley with a 2-0 victory in which they were clearly the better team from the start. Cloverleaf (9-0-1) was in complete control from the opening kickoff all the way through the game's final seconds. "It meant everything," Cloverleaf forward Callee Gibson said. "We knew they were the seventh-ranked (Division III) team in the state. It was a huge win for us, and I am really proud." "We were hoping for a win," Riley Werner added. "We got it, and it shows other teams that might underestimate us what we can do. It is really big for us." Defensively the Colts suffocated the Indians (6-2-1) with constant pressure and quick, decisive answers to any offensive threat. The offense's consistent push up the field finally yielded results when Hannah Hopek had a terrific slide tackle to the right of the box and tapped the ball into the middle to teammate Gibson, who fired the ball past Indians keeper Reese Waterman for a 1-0 lead with 37:23 left in the game. "I found open space and (Hopek) ended up slide-tackling a girl, and she kicked me the ball," Gibson said. "I was going to shoot it with my right and I realized I had enough time to shoot it with my left — my left is my dominant foot — so I took the shot and it just went over her head." The Colts kept attacking, which led to a game-sealing goal from Werner. The big right foot of Presley McConnell again played a role on this one after the senior notched the winner over Field in a 2-1 victory on Sept. 10. McConnell put the big boot into another ball, which Waterman got a hand, tipping it up before it settled on the foot of Werner, who had the finishing touch to give her team a 2-0 lead. "I thought honestly that she was going to make it in," Werner said. "But I knew if she didn't, someone had to be there for that. It was just a perfect right-in-front-of-the-goal moment. You're not going to get that moment where no one is really there and you can just tap it in like that." With the Colts in clear control over a Copley team that had only scored 14 goals in eight games coming in, defense took center stage from that point, with keeper Stella Bennett there to clean up any loose change. Bennett made three saves, including a spectacular stop moments before Gibson opened the scoring in the second half. "I have to give all the credit to my defense," Bennett said. "My three defenders are so great. When one pressures, the others cover immediately. They are always there backing each other up. The very few times that they slip up, I am there to cover and let them know their hard work isn't going to waste and I am going to pick up where they left off." McConnell, Kiersyn Berry and Anastasia Baugman have been great all season, teaming with Bennett for seven shutouts. The Colts have allowed just four goals this season. Cloverleaf also peppered Waterman with seven shots and now has 51 goals in 10 games. "I think I knew we could win this after we scored the first goal," Bennett said. "We didn't let up. Sometimes after (a goal) we tend to. After we score, we get a little lazy. We start jogging too much. After the first goal the energy never dropped. Then we got the second and I knew it was going to be a good result." The statement win for the Colts comes as they gear up for a big matchup with Streetsboro a week from today, with the winner likely wrapping up the regular-season Metro Athletic Conference crown. Field (7-2-1, 4-1-0) and Streetsboro (7-2-1, 5-0) play tonight, and a Rockets win will make the Sept. 24 matchup for the title. Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Cloverleaf 2, Copley 0 COPLEY 0 0 — 0 CLOVERELAF 0 2 — 2 Second C — Cailee Gibson (Hannah Hopek), 37:23 C — Riley Werner (Presley McConnell), 28:36 Shots on goal — Copley 3, Cloverleaf 7. Corner kicks — Copley 1, Cloverelaf 1. Saves — Reese Waterman (Co) 5, Stella Bennett (Cl) 3. Records — Copley (6-2-1), Cloverleaf (9-0-1).