Girls soccer: Firelands sprints past Vermilion

VERMILION — With the Division IV postseason around corner, the Stillman Cup matchup Monday between Firelands and Vermilion was a good test to find out how battle-ready they are.Firelands proved to be in better shape as the Falcons prevailed 6-1 behind sophomore forward Addie Schrader's second career hat trick and a pair of goals by senior midfielder Hazel Littleton.The win upped Firelands' record to 8-4-1, while Vermilion slipped to 4-9-1. It was the Falcons' fifth straight win over the Sailors as they improved to 6-2-2 since the Stillman Cup began in 2016.The first half set the template for the evening. Firelands outshot Vermilion 21-1 while jumping out to a 4-0 lead.Schrader (34:06) and sophomore forward Reagan Sutorius (32:28) scored goals less than two minutes apart. Littleton followed with back-to-back goals. The first came on a header at 13:31 off an assist by junior Peyton West, then she scored unassisted at 4:31.Schrader completed her hat trick with back-to-back goals in the second half. The first came at 28:47, followed by another at 21:42 on a pretty left-footed shot.It was a nice bounce-back performance for Firelands after a 2-0 loss Saturday to North Ridgeville."It means everything, especially for our upcoming games coming into tournaments," said Schrader. "It's just better to have that one on our side to help us move on in the playoffs."The Stillman Cup series provides extra motivation and incentive to the rivalry."This win means a lot," said Schrader. "It's big school pride for us."Firelands' speed and quickness wreaked havoc, especially in the first half when the Falcons consistently got behind the Sailors' back line."We had very good passes," said Schrader. "Everything basically from our defense pushing the ball up to our midfield and our midfield pushing the ball up to us (on the forward line) and just finishing it all. We're all very fast. A lot of us are multisport athletes, which helps out our overall team speed."Littleton was also upbeat about the performance and likes the team's chemistry."Everyone on the team has a very good soccer IQ," she said. "Our forwards played club soccer for a very long time. We're very good at reading where the ball is going to go and how we're going to play together without quite communicating it. We can pretty much read each other's body language."We hang out together a lot outside of soccer, too. That really helps. We're all very calm and collected. We're all together on the same page. We're all in the zone at the same time."Firelands 10th-year coach Kevin Zeigler liked what he saw in the rebound from the loss to the Rangers."We just needed to play the game that we know we can play," he said. "Which is to possess the ball, move the ball, use our speed, to do what we're supposed to do."Firelands' speed totally neutralized Vermilion's offense. The Sailors' first shot didn't come until 32:18 of the second half. Vermilion's only other shot attempt resulted in its goal, by senior Abby Gawry at 12:08 off an assist by sophomore Morgan Frenk."Firelands had great transitional speed," said first-year Vermilion coach Katie Hayden, a 2003 Vermilion graduate. "That's where we lost the ball. We adjusted our defense for the second half, moving our sweeper to the back. That kind of shut them down the second half. We have a few sick players, that didn't help. We need to come with intensity. We have to transition faster, show the change of speed and kick it into second gear."We have a very young team. Some of my players have only played soccer for four months. The growth in development that has happened in these four months has been huge. Five players never played soccer before this season. I couldn't ask for anything more."Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.Firelands 6, Vermilion 1GOALS: Firelands – Addie Schrader 3, Hazel Littleton 2, Reagan Sutorius. Vermilion – Abby Gawry.ASSISTS: Firelands – Littleton, Peyton West. Vermilion – Morgan Frenk.SHOTS ON GOAL: Firelands 35, Vermilion 2SAVES: Ava Huston (Firelands) 1. Jazlyn Rayl (Vermilion), 19.CORNER KICKS: Firelands 2, Vermilion 2YELLOW CARDS: NoneHALFTIME: Firelands, 4-0