Girls soccer: Wadsworth blanks Cloverleaf in rivalry match

WESTFIELD TWP. — The Wadsworth girls soccer team earned its first victory of the season Saturday, and the Grizzlies hope the 4-0 non-league decision over Medina County rival Cloverleaf is a sign of things to come. After scoring only one goal through three games, Wadsworth finally found its rhythm on offense late in the contest thanks in large part to two goals and an assist by junior Athena Craig. "It's really exciting," Craig said. "It's literally a breath of fresh air for us. We really needed this and knew we were going to give it our all. Once we get one win, then we're on a streak and know we can win and we can do this." Behind the efforts of Colts junior goalkeeper Stella Bennett (10 saves), Cloverleaf (1-2) stayed in the thick of the game until Craig floated her second goal out of the reach of Bennett with 8:21 remaining. Consistent pressure from Wadsworth (1-3) then broke things open, as Cameran Halleck scored with 4:21 left off a pass by Craig. Ashley Valatka closed the scoring on a beautiful shot from a Corrine Hinkle feed. "Defensively, we realized pressure was coming fast," Bennett said. "I communicated to my center back, Katie Wershing, that we need to play the balls long and not mess around with it back here. We needed to get the ball up and give us as much of a chance to counter as we can." Bennett's biggest moment came with the game still scoreless when she made a diving save on a shot by Blake and got up to stop another shot by Valatka with 28:25 left in the first half. "I realized when I made the dive (on Blake's shot), I couldn't hold it," Bennett said. "As I was getting up, I saw (Valatka) there and I knew I had to make up as much ground as I could as quickly as possible. When I saw her setting up her shot, I committed sending myself and I got lucky it hit me right where I needed it to." After tying the Colts 1-1 last season, the Grizzlies' defense was committed to making life difficult on the Cloverleaf attack that was led by veterans Kayla Shook and Hannah Hopek. Outside of a roughly 12-minute stretch late in the first half, Wadsworth denied the Colts many opportunities to threaten the goal behind captains Lily Haller, Cameran Halleck and Reese Hassinger and sophomore Leah Gambaccini. "Me and (Halleck) worked together as a duo (in the middle) and started controlling the field," Haller said. "Mentally, we weren't there (in recent games) and then got back at it again tonight and did what we needed to do." Shook fired Cloverleaf's first shot on goal with 15:13 left that was easily stopped by freshman goalie Kara Reedy (5 saves). Four of the Colts' five shots on goal followed in quick succession, with three coming from Shook. The last came on a similar sequence to Bennett's, when Hopek had a free kick from 35 yards that was saved before Reedy saved the rebound from Shook as well. "(Reedy) did amazing," Haller said. "I let (Shook) go, which I shouldn't have, but it happens. I have complete confidence in her. She's been putting in a ton of work. As a freshman she's incredible and just going to keep improving and getting better." Wadsworth's first goal came with 8:50 left in the first half, after the Grizzlies had put four shots on goal and nearly missed the mark with another four. Seeing the ball finally find the back of the net was a relief. "It was really important (to score that goal)," Craig said. "We had lots of opportunities and we only had eight minutes left (in the half). I knew it was going to be really good for us if we could get one before the half." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Wadsworth 4, Cloverleaf 0 WADSWORTH 1 3 — 4 CLOVERLEAF 0 0 — 0 First W — Athena Craig (Leah Blake), 8:50. Second W — Craig, 8:21. W — Cameran Halleck (Craig), 4:21. W — Ashley Valatka (Corrine Hinkle), 2:35. Shots on goal — Wadsworth 14, Cloverleaf 5. Corner kicks — Wadsworth 0, Cloverleaf 0. Saves — Kara Reedy (W) 5, Stella Bennett (C) 10. Records — Wadsworth (1-3), Cloverleaf (1-2).