Wooster girls reach another goal with sectional soccer title

  • brian questel
  • October 26, 2011
  • 248
                        
103111 girlssectionaltitle Promo: Generals’ soccer teams wins sectional title; Philippon OCC Player of Year Wooster girls reach another goal with sectional soccer title By Brian Questel When the Wooster High girls’ soccer team opened its 2011 season, it was mindful of what hadn’t been accomplished in recent years. That reflection on the past was in many ways what has driven it for much of this season and allowed it to reach two more of its preseason goals. For the first time in over a decade, the Generals not only won an opening round sectional game but also won a second to claim a sectional championship for the first time since 1999. The fourth-seeded Generals did that by routing Akron Ellet 6-0 and then notched the Brunswick Division I Sectional crown with a 1-0 win over Medina Highland despite an official’s call that gave the Hornets’ an indirect kick from the top of the 18-yard box with less than 10 seconds to play. The Generals survived that, though, to advance into district play where the top four seeds were slated to play each other for the right to move on to regionals. On top of that, the Ohio Cardinal Conference champions had several of its players earn all-league nods, highlighted by the second OCC Offensive Player of the Year honors that went to senior Jenn Philippon. Senior goalkeeper Staci Hackett and midfielder Annalise Battig were also first-team selections, while senior Beth Courson and Sarah Mason, a junior, were second-team selections. Gabby Cicolani, a sophomore, and freshman Sydney Sleek were named honorable mention. The sectional title and the OCC honors were fitting honors after winning the OCC title for the second time in three years and the first sectional crown in 12 years. “It definitely feels good,” said Wooster coach Les Wudarzewski, whose team won the OCC with a 5-0-1 regular-season mark and was 13-2-3 entering district play. “When you start to achieve your goals, it’s good for the program. We’re setting the stakes and goals for next year even higher. It’s all part of building the program and getting girls use to pressure they’ve never felt before and moving on. “We spent a lot of time preparing for Medina Highland and it helped us to see what it takes to beat them and how to accomplish it. It’s the same for Copley (Wooster’s opening district game). It’s not up to us; it’s up to them to see how far we go. To me, God was on our side, especially the Highland game. The first half we dominated and everything was going to plan. The second half was a little tricky. We definitely didn’t have 11 players on the field but 12. Some may call it luck, but I call it faith and it was meant to be.” The fact Wooster, a fourth-seed, opted to play a first-round game rather than sit also played into the Generals’ favor as they made a late first-half goal by Sleek stand up after she touched in a rebound shot. “If you look, Highland sat for 10 days,” said Wudarzewski. “We decided not to (take the bye and) play at home because we wanted to play in that 10-day period. I think Medina Highland was not at game speed, especially in the first half. It’s happened to us in year’s before – we were not prepared and our game speed was missing.” What hasn’t been missing this season is Philippon, who has scored over 20 goals to spearhead the Generals’ attack. “Jenn is our leading player, but the good part is every coach picked her. It was unanimous,” said Wudarzewski. “They know her. But, by focusing on her, it opens other areas where (opponents) are weakened and we’ve been able to exploit those. Everyone knows what she brings to the game and why she is the best player in the OCC. We will miss her, but we’ll move on. We’ll be OK and we will surprise people. “Hackett and Anna? Staci – what an improvement from years before. She not only took it seriously, but she became a tremendous leader on the team and I will miss that. She has eight shutouts and she’s two away from breaking the record. She’s become one of the best players on the team. “Anna is a force in the middle when she’s on her best game. She’s physical, strong and has fast, accurate passes. She definitely makes a difference and other coaches acknowledge that.” Wooster won its district semifinal match against Copley October 25 and will play Wadsworth at 3 p.m. Saturday in the district championship game.


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