Cleveland shakes off deficit, Smithfield-Selma in Two Rivers soccer

The Cleveland girls soccer team did something Thursday night when they hosted Smithfield-Selma that, by its own coach’s estimation, they hadn’t done all season long.

The Rams (7-6-1, 5-2) fell behind a goal in the second half but kept their heads up, battled back and wasted no time in evening the score less than a minute later before going on to register the 3-1 victory over the Spartans (7-9, 3-3).

“I told them I’ve never been more proud (because) we didn’t have one girl that put their head down,” Cleveland coach Marissa Wingate said. “We were determined to get it back. And less than a minute later, we did.

“That’s the first time all season, that it didn’t take us five minutes to shake off a goal.”

Morgan Maxwell assisted Kendall Lamm on Cleveland’s second goal of the night before Maxwell put the game out of reach with a goal of her own.

Turning point

After falling behind the Spartans in the 52nd minute on a Megan Benjamin volley, Cleveland required less than one minute to draw even.

The Rams had several opportunities to get in alone on goal for the game with through balls behind the Smithfield-Selma defense but Cleveland couldn’t get the timing right until Hannah Evans sprung Amaya Wall free down the middle of the field.

Wall took the through ball in stride, forced Spartan goalkeeper Caroline Carter to come off her line and beat Carter low and to the near post to tie the game 1-1 mere seconds after falling behind.

Three to watch

Center backs (Briele Cochran, Estefanie Pedrozo), Cleveland: Smithfield-Selma’s preferred mode of attack was with long balls over the top or through cracks in the Cleveland defense. Those cracks never materialized, however, as Cochran and Pedrozo took turns turning back the Spartans’ forwards and playing the offside trap to perfection.

Hannah Evans, Cleveland: Evans was key for the Rams in the second half in keeping the ball pinned inside the Spartans’ half of the field for the majority of the minutes. The midfielder did a good job switching the point of attack and stepping in front of many outlet attempts from the Smithfield-Selma back line.

Kara Harrison, Smithfield-Selma: Harrison was a tireless presence for the Spartans in the middle of the pitch and proved dangerous moving forward. It was Harrison who whipped in a perfect ball to Benjamin on the 52nd minute corner kick, which led to the lone goal of the night for the visitors.

They said it

When asked about her left-footed “assist” to Kendall Lamm for the eventual game-winner, Morgan Maxwell came clean with her intentions on the play.

Maxwell fired the ball towards the far post where Lamm was waiting to redirect the ball back across the face of the goal for the lead.

“It was a shot,” said Maxwell. “Luckily, everything went well and we got a goal off of it.”

Looking ahead

Cleveland sits comfortably in second place in the Two Rivers with a 5-2 mark, a full two games behind Corinth Holders. The Rams have two conference games in the upcoming week, including a matchup with the league leaders.

Smithfield-Selma is still looking to find its footing again after having lost leading goal scorer Natalie Sabiston to a season-ending injury the week before.

The Spartans have a pair of games with rivals South Johnston and another conference contest against Triton this week during which they hope to get back on track, something Coach Stacy Holland feels they are more than capable of doing.

“We just didn’t play well at all tonight,” Holland said. “They weren’t where they were supposed to be, passes weren’t connecting. We’re more than capable of playing. We’re a good team, we just don’t play like it all the time.”

By the numbers

4: Times the assistant referees’ flags were raised for a Smithfield-Selma offside call

8: Saves required of Spartans’ Caroline Carter

12: Assists on the season for Cleveland’s Hannah Evans.

51: Seconds between the Spartans’ goal that gave them the 1-0 lead and Amaya Wall’s tally that tied it up for Cleveland

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Cleveland shakes off deficit, Smithfield-Selma in Two Rivers soccer."