KIRTLAND–Berkshire’s Kelly McCandless scored two goals in a 2-1 win over host Kirtland, the last coming in the final 54 seconds of the battle for first place in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division.
Tied 1-1 with tie dwindling down, Alie Ruchalski sent the ball to McCandless, and she buried it in the back of the net for the win.
“I just wanted to shoot it,” McCandless said. “It was such a good feeling (to see it go in).”
McCandless opened the scoring in the fourth minute off a feed from Mary Lee, putting the Badgers up 1-0.
Berkshire head coach Ian Patterson emphasized the importance of getting off to a good start.
“Setting the tone early on in the game was huge for us,” Patterson said. “Not even necessarily the goal but putting pressure on the midfield and being on backs helped us set the tone.”
Berkshire’s one-goal lead held up through halftime, but the Hornets evened things up in the 63rd minute when Olivia Pickens scored off a Payton Adkins assist.
Coach Patterson saw his team respond in the critical moments.
“I’ve been talking to them about getting one goal each half,” he said. “I just wanted the girls to battle for that next goal.”
Berkshire obtained its go-ahead strike to essentially clinch the conference title, once again from a McCandless.
“It was huge to get that goal,” Patterson said of McCandless’ game-winner. “(The goal) essentially wins us the conference. The McCandless sisters have been the difference in the conference in the last couple of years. We got two from Kelly McCandless tonight, and it seems to be something about the CVC games where they step up.”
Berkshire hasn’t officially locked up the conference title yet, but that could happen as early as next week when the Badgers play Jefferson on Sept. 26.
“We got Jefferson next week, and hopefully we can use this momentum,” Patterson said. “If we do that, we’ll be conference champs again.”
One key to Berkshire’s win was Peyton Larch’s strong backline play. She consistently disrupted Kirtland’s lead passes, making life difficult for the Hornet strikers.
“Peyton has taken charge of this team as a captain,” Patterson said. “Anything loose, she does a great job of being decisive, and once she makes up her mind that a loose ball is hers, she rarely misses the touch. Everything that could have been a problem for us, she did a great job getting a touch on it in the air.”
With the loss, Kirtland dropped to 6-4-1, but head coach Josh Sladick was pleased to see his team respond with an equalizer in the second half.
“At the end of the day, the second half is a true representation of how the girls have played all season,” Sladick said. “With how Olivia Pickens was able to put the ball in the net was really the trigger for us.”
Coach Sladick focused on McCandless to force someone else to beat them, and goalkeeper Kennedy Boyd made 13 saves to help Kirtland achieve that.
“Marin Haupt played out of her skull guarding McCandless,” Sladick said. “I heard Kennedy talking the entire time. There are times when you need a goalkeeper to have that edge, and she had it today. She commanded the backline. She stepped up for us tonight.”
Berkshire will visit West Branch on Sept. 23 while Kirtland hosts West Geauga on the same day.
