Staff photo / Brian Yauger Howland’s Gracie Villwock dribbles the ball past an Ursuline defender Wednesday night at Youngstown State University. Villwock scored one of Howland’s eight goals in the Tigers’ 8-1 win over Ursuline.

YOUNGSTOWN — After a 2-1 first half in favor of Howland, the Tigers offense exploded in the second as they powered their way to an 8-1 victory over Ursuline.

“I was very pleased,” Howland coach Greg Mitchell said. “I was very pleased with the second half. I thought we were kind of lackluster. I pretty much let them know that at halftime and they came out and played in the second half like I was hoping that they would start. … They bought that level and it was nice to see them put it together and start putting the balls in the back of the net.”

Ava Yannucci was a big factor in balls hitting the back of the net as she potted four goals against the Fighting Irish and was a force all around the field for the Tigers.

“She’s been consistent for us,” Mitchell said. “Even when she’s not scoring, she’s creating. Funny enough, she’s not really a goal scorer per se, but she scores goals for us because she’s in the right place at the right time.

“She’s a very unselfish player, so she is always (creating) whether she creates opportunities for herself with her movement off the ball, or providing others with opportunities to score without passing just has a knack for the game in terms of reading, how to free herself to get open and finally, she’s starting to finish up some more of her chances as well.”

Khloe Liakaris closed out the game with a pair of goals in the final three minutes.

Ursuline had a good start to the game, keeping pace with the Tigers for the first half. Things just went south in the second half, but Irish coach Roy Schmidt is viewing this as a learning opportunity for the upcoming postseason.

“The ladies worked well through the first half,” Schmidt said. “Just after the start of the second, a primary player gets carded and with just one game left in the season before playoffs and of course it’s the Mooney game. We weren’t going to chance players being suspended and we attempted to hold on and possibly get a draw.

“Once Howland scored the next goal we felt it presented an opportunity for our youth to gain field experience. As much as you don’t want such a lopsided finish our younger players were able to get field time. Overall an uncomfortable situation, yet we have an opportunity to watch film and possibly find solutions over the next two weeks.”

Ursuline (8-5) looks to get back on the right track on Wednesday when they play rival Cardinal Mooney. Start time is set for 6:30 p.m.

Howland closes out the regular season with games against Canfield and Boardman. With the regular season nearing its end, the Tigers’ goal is to just continue to gel.

“We’ve been spending time just continuing to combine with each other and just emphasis on finding the best option,” Mitchell said. “Finally, they’ve started falling on the back of the net for us. We’ve been playing really well. Great chances, but even in the last two games, 1-0 and 1-0, we dominated possession. To see them finally find the back of the net often tonight was a good thing.”