Second Half Comeback Earns Draw for Rangers

Freshman Aubree Nagel, shown here about to enter the game, scored the Rangers goal in the second half.

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Lakewood girls soccer earned a draw with visiting Revere on Monday night at First Federal Lakewood Stadium. The final minutes were played at a furious pace, with Lakewood coming within inches of a go-ahead goal on multiple occasions. The tie pushes the Rangers record to 1-2-1 on the young season.

`               The Rangers defended the north goal in the first half, and faced a steady wind that continued throughout the evening. Revere took advantage of the wind early, scoring a goal just over five minutes into the game. They lofted a floater over Lakewood goalkeeper Jordhan Kieres to take a 1-0 lead. The lead would hold though the rest of the first half. Kieres settled in and made a key save and faced a late corner kick from the Minutemen.

                The teams changed goals at the half, which gave Lakewood the wind advantage. Despite this, Revere earned a corner kick just 30 seconds into the period. The Rangers cleared the threat, and did so again on another Minutemen corner kick ten minutes later. The pace of the game picked up about 15 minutes into the second half, and Lakewood created some good scoring opportunities. They earned a corner kick 16 minutes into the half—but it was stopped by Revere. Two minutes later freshman Aubree Nagel hit paydirt. The Revere keeper came too far up the line, and Nagel lifted a long shot over her head and into the goal over 15 yards behind her.

The crowd, which included many LHS boys soccer and football players, erupted. The score was now tied 1-1 with 22 minutes remaining, and momentum had switched  to the Rangers. Lakewood maintained possession in Revere’s end for most of the remaining game. In one tantalizing sequence with nine minutes left, the Rangers banged two different shots off the post within ten seconds of each other.  The crowd rode a rollercoaster of emotion, as scoring chances came but were narrowly missed.

Revere mounted one last threat with about two minutes remaining, but Kieres made a nice grab in traffic to shut down the Minutemen. The Rangers had possession for most of the final minute, and nearly took the lead with 30 seconds to go. Junior Claire Hylton got off a shot, but it rolled just inches wide of the left side of the net. 

Ranger head coach Roman Hubach realizes that his team is still a work in progress. However, he was very pleased with the strong second half. “It as a good second half” he said after the game, “we made it exciting”.   Lakewood returns to action Wednesday night at FFL Stadium with a matchup against Olmsted Falls. JV is scheduled for 5pm, varsity at 7pm.