ROMM PHOTOGRAPHY
Hudson coach Greg Shoults said Keith Cartwright (7) played a key role in the Explorers' 3-1 win at Jackson last Thursday.
AKRON, Ohio – Akron North’s 2-0 boys soccer victory earlier this week at Ellet was no small triumph for the Vikings.
“We had a big victory and we want to shout it,” said first-year coach Michael Kane, an assistant the last four years.
Of the 21 players on Kane’s varsity roster, two were born in the U.S. and four had played for the team last year.
Kane’s team is 2-2 and features eight players from Nepal, eight from Thailand, two from Bosnia and one from Mexico.
North High School offers study in English as a Second Language, which accounts for the large contingent of foreign students.
Kane asked, “Can they play together as a team?” He was pleasantly surprised in the team’s first scrimmage against Streetsboro.
Sophomore center midfielder Lin Kyaw Naing, a Nepal native and a student attending Akron Early College, is North’s best player. The Vikings are 2-0 when he is available and 0-2 when he is absent for academic commitments.
“He is an absolutely outstanding player,” Kane said about his star.
The Vikings have wins over Lake Center Christian and Ellet and losses to Norwayne and Bedford.
She feeds the opponent
Last Monday’s match at Norton was a unique contest for Firestone girls soccer coach Elaine Miller.
Formerly Norton’s coach from 1989-2003, Miller always has some mixed emotions when she goes against the Panthers.
“I told the girls, 'I really do not want to lose to this team,'” she said. Her goalkeeper, Kristen Giaquinto responded, ‘Coach, I’ll try to keep you in the game,’ according to Miller.
Giaquinto played well, making 11 saves, but Norton rolled to a 5-0 win on Aug. 29.
But wait -- there’s more!
For 22 years, Miller has worked in the Norton High School cafeteria as a cook and two years ago was promoted to head cook.
“I know a lot of the (Norton) girls,” Miller said. “I know Kailene. I know Kayla. I know the girls because I’ve seen them around.”
Surprise
The Highland girls are off to a fast start and that has coach Gina Fox pleased.
“It was nice to see the girls come out with a lot of energy ready to play,” said Fox, after a 10-0 win over Coventry to open the season.
Her team scrimmaged Walsh Jesuit and CVCA in the week leading up to the start of the season and the experience of playing against the best might have raised her team’s level of play.
Highland is 3-0-1 and the Hornets have outscored their opponents 18-0. Senior Olivia Petek has eight goals.
On the boys side of the Suburban League, newcomer Nordonia (4-0-0) is undefeated and quickly becomes a wild-card opponent for league heavyweight Revere, Copley and Wadsworth.
The Knights, under coach Jake Cooper, opened SL play last Tuesday (Aug. 30) with a thrilling 3-2 home win against Highland.
Athletic director Rob Eckenrode reports that Nordonia is 4-0-0 for the first time in the program’s history. Senior Marcus Perry scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play to clinch the victory over the Hornets.
Nordonia showed promise last fall with a 9-7-2 mark behind 10 goals and five assists from Josh Hathaway.
The Knights were scheduled to host Normandy on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Wadsworth on Sept. 6.
Numbers
With four goals last Thursday against Our Lady of the Elms, Manchester senior Taylor Mattiol now has seven goals in three matches. … Hudson sophomore Margo Camp has six early goals for the Explorers. … With a 3-1 win at Jackson last Thursday, Hudson’s boys snapped a 0-6-1 skid against the Polar Bears dating back to a district championship win in 2003.
Copley youth
It was David Antal’s dream to return home and coach the Copley Indians boys soccer team.
A leader on Copley’s 1994 state championship team and a letter winner for the University of Akron’s high-powered program, Antal was named Copley head coach for the 2008 season.
That year, the Indians won the Suburban League championship (7-0) and it touched off a revitalized community interest in soccer.
Over the summer, 175 children attended Copley’s youth soccer camp, which was largely managed by Antal’s players.
“It’s incredible. These campers are kids that I have in my classroom,” said Antal, who teaches 5th-grade at Copley-Fairlawn Middle School. “They come by and they see the pictures of my high school players hanging on my wall. It’s a community feeling.”
Antal was head coach at GlenOak for five years before returning to Copley. He said the creation of Infocision Field, the team’s home facility, is further proof of the community support.
“This field that we put in was a community complex and having those kids a part of it… is a tradition, a family atmosphere and it’s a wonderful thing to be a part of.”