KIRTLAND—Missed opportunities cost Kirtland in a 1-0 loss to Chagrin Valley Conference rival Chagrin Falls on Wednesday at Recreation Park.
The Hornets failed to finish on 11 shots on goal in the loss that snapped a five-game win streak.
“Sometimes the end result doesn’t tell the whole story,” said Kirtland coach Ed Bradac. “I thought our girls played hard and we put ourselves in opportunities to win this game, definitely in the first half and we had a couple chances in the second half to at least take the lead or even up the score. We just couldn’t finish.”
Chagrin Falls, the defending Division II state runner-up, took a 1-0 lead when Ashton Hunt punched in a loose ball off of one of the Tigers’ 10 corner kicks with 21:06 left in the game.
“We didn’t lose the game in the flow of the game; we lost on a corner kick,” Bradac said. “If you’re going to give up 10 corner kicks, that’s going to happen. That’s a hard thing to combat over and over and over. We had the same problem against Rocky River (in a 2-1 setback).”
The Hornets, who dropped to 5-4-1 overall, played without starting goalkeeper Gabby Culotta, who was on a school field trip.
That forced freshman Corrine Aquila into her first varsity action. She finished with six saves.
“She did fine,” Bradac said. “I thought our defense played well in front of her. The objective was not to have Corrine handle the ball. It wasn’t that I was worried about Corinne, it was about pride. ‘Don’t let them get a shot off.’ Collectively, our defense was solid but we gave up too many corner kicks. They kept everything in front of them and we didn’t get beat in the flow of the game, which is important to me.”
Kirtland has six regular season games remaining and Bradac hopes the Hornets realize the importance of finishing off shots, especially in the postseason.
“I think every year I’ve coached I have experienced one of these games where I feel like the result should have been different,” he said. “I want them to remember what that feels like so when you do start to play the next seven games and then as we move through the tournament, that’s what it’s going to be, that shallow, ‘could’ve, would’ve, should’ve feeling.’ When that happens in the tournament you’re done. The beautiful part about this is we get to turn around and play Tuesday.”
The Hornets travel to Independence on Tuesday.
Chagrin Falls improved to 4-4-1 on the year.
