ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- A mid-game push, spanning the latter minutes of the opening half and the early minutes of the second, lifted Chagrin Falls to an 11-6 win over Rocky River in Thursday night non-conference action.

From the 3-minute mark of the first half to the the 21:34-mark of the second, the Tigers turned a 3-2 deficit into a 7-4 lead. With excellent defense, goalkeeping, and ball-possession skills, Chagrin Falls would only allow two more goals the rest of the way, and one of those was an inconsequential end-gamer with only 21 seconds remaining.

Junior midfielder Peyton Gellin scored seven goals, four on a connection with senior attacker Sadie Nachtwey. That Tiger tandem produced the first two scores of the contest. Rocky River answered with a pair of Allie Kysela tallies over the middle minutes of the first, and the Pirates then took a 3-2 lead when freshman midfielder Daisy Thompson netted her eighth of the season at the 9:03 mark. Thompson would finish the game with a goal, a ground ball, and two caused turnovers.
 
River's 3-2 lead made it to the 3-minute mark when Lilly Catney started Chagrin's 5-2 run on an assist from Aubree Daugherty. Tigers goalkeeper Emma Livingston was sharp in making a last-second save in the first half and two quality stops in the opening minute of the second. Livingston finished with six saves on the night.

In the second half, the defense in front of Livingston was especially strong, and much of the game was played some 85 yards away from the Tiger twine-minder, with the visitors possessing the ball for lengthy stretches of time.

Gellin scored four of her goals in the second half. River's second-half offense was limited to an Iris Polly goal at 17:08 and an Olivia Konopka marker with 21 seconds remaining.

For the game, Chagrin Falls clocked 11 goals on 20 shots (12 on goal); Rocky River registered six goals on 18 shots (12, on goal). Turnovers were a problem for the Pirates, especially in the the game's opening half. River finished the contest as a minus-4 (15 to 11) in that department. The Tigers won the ground-ball battle, 25-21, and were adept at snaring 50-50 balls in traffic.

Konopka finished with two goals and two assists. Allie Kysela logged two goals. Iris Polly had a goal and two ground balls. Lauren Solecki added three ground balls and a caused turnover. Ella Nejad had three ground balls and went 10-7 on 17 draws. Kayln Scalabrino registered two grounders and two spills.

Rocky River (10-3) is scheduled to play a non-league road game against St. Joseph on Saturday.


by Skip Snow

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