Girls soccer: Elyria Catholic holds on, beats Columbia

COLUMBIA STATION — When Elyria Catholic was looking for someone to spark its offense it turned to Gracie Taylor.The senior forward scored two goals in a seven-minute span late in the first half to propel the Panthers to a hard-fought 3-2 non-league win at Columbia. Elyria Catholic (3-1) dominated time of possession for most of the first half but the match remained scoreless for 31 minutes until Taylor found the back of the net. "Our coaches kept telling us we had to pressure more, put pressure on their goalkeeper," Taylor said. "We were watching her warm up and we could tell she wasn't very aggressive on the ball."Then with less than two minutes until halftime Taylor scored again, this time with the help of fellow senior Gabriella Rodriguez."For me and Gabby this is our second year playing together," Taylor said. "She's a very experienced player. She was able to find an opening to get me the ball and I was able to follow through." Halftime couldn't cool down Taylor or Rodriguez as less than three minutes into the second half Taylor broke free down the left side and fired a shot that was saved by Raiders goalkeeper Gianna Stervagi. However, the rebound bounced out to the near post where Rodriguez fired it home to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead. "We're feeling great right now. This was a huge win for us," Panthers coach Jose Perez said. "We've been struggling scoring goals but we were able to score three goals today. We're very excited about this result."After being held to one goal in its first two games, Elyria Catholic has 11 goals in its last two games."Gracie has been working really, really hard. She's our second goalkeeper and she's been asking me to get some minutes up top," Perez said. "And look when she got the chance hard work paid off." After playing a lackluster first half, Columbia (0-2-1) could have folded when it found itself down three goals. Instead the Raiders played their best soccer down the stretch and fought back to make it a one-goal game."I've always thought we are one of the most in-shape teams," Columbia coach Blaze Pratt said. "These girls worked so hard in the preseason and we hold them to a ridiculous standard. It's a shame they decided to 20 minutes too late to get their heads in the game." Alyssa Goebel scored both Columbia goals, the first coming in the 56th minute. Goebel's second goal came in the 60th minute after she got the ball on her foot at midfield, dribbled down the near sideline in front of the Columbia bench, cut inside at the top of the penalty box and delivered a perfectly placed shot that Elyria Catholic goalkeeper Addie Roth was unable to get a hand on to make it a 3-2 game.In the 70th minute Goebel had another breakaway, this time right up the middle. However, on this occasion Roth was able to make a huge save that preserved the win for Elyria Catholic. "Alyssa is just a hard-working athlete no matter the sport," Pratt said. "She never played soccer before high school. When you get to coach a player like that you're just happy to have her on your team." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.Elyria Catholic 3, Columbia 2GOALS: (EC) Gracie Taylor (32nd minute, 39th minute), Gabriella Rodriguez (43rd minute); (C) Alyssa Goebel (56th minute, 60th minute)ASSISTS: (EC) RodriguezSAVES: (EC) Addie Roth 7; (C) Gianna Stervagi 7SHOTS ON GOAL: Elyria Catholic 10; Columbia 9FOULS: Elyria Catholic 5; Columbia 6CORNER KICKS: Elyria Catholic 6; Columbia 3OFFSIDE: Elyria Catholic 1; Columbia 1HALFTIME: Elyria Catholic, 2-0