MACEDONIA—With a 2-0 win over Copley in a Division II regional championship game, Chagrin Falls punched its ticket to the state Final Four.
The Tigers book-ended the match as they tallied one early and one late score and controlled possession for much of the contest.
“I would prefer a game like we played today, where we favor possession as opposed to a high-pressure game,” Chagrin Falls coach Pamela Malone said. “We figure if we get the ball down the field for three or four possessions per game, we’ll be able to apply pressure and score goals.”
Peyton Gellin broke the scoreless tie after a foul inside the box allowed her to take a penalty shot in the 18th minute.
Sarah Burgess was able to add a bit of insurance on a breakaway goal in the 75th minute to extend the Tiger lead to 2-0.
“We broke the game into chunks and it made it seem much more winnable,” Malone said. “We came out and said we needed to win the first half. After we did that, we just needed to win 40 more minutes.”
This victory was a little different than Tuesday’s regional semifinal game when the Tigers implemented a quick-strike strategy to score goals against Canfield. In the regional final, the Tigers possessed the ball a lot more and allowed less than half the amount of shots on goal to a usually high-scoring Copley team.
Chagrin Falls advanced to the Final Four for the sixth time in school history and the first since finishing second in 2003.
The Tigers will play Mansfield Madison Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at a site to be determined. Mansfield Madison beat Oak Harbor, 10-1, Saturday afternoon and is the second-ranked team in the state.
