High School Sports

Howland tops Poland in regional semis

Tigers advance to third regional final in four years with win

STREETSBORO -- Howland's stingy defense was tasked with the challenge of shutting down Poland's relentless attack Wednesday for a shot at the Division II, Region 5 finals.

The Tigers knew that Poland was going to throw everything at them, but Howland made the saves when it needed to, and got the ball moving in the attacking third to walk off the field with a 3-1 victory over the Bulldogs.

"You're going to have to absorb the punches that they throw at you quite a bit," Tigers coach Brian Stiles said. "That was something we talked about all week. We got a little messy there on the scrum when they got the goal, but they're the type of team, they're going to throw a lot of numbers at you, and you've got to absorb it and counter back at them.

"They do a great job of keeping the ball in their half once they (push up), so hats off to them. They're a heck of a team."

Howland struck first around 10 minutes into the contest. In the midst of a front-net scrum, Jak Kenney snuck the ball through.

For a team like the Tigers who are happy to let its backs shut you down defensively, getting early goals is exactly what they want.

"It's huge because we're a defensive type of team," Stiles said. "We weren't real happy with the goal we gave up, but we had enough offense tonight that we did the job."

It does wonders for the team's confidence as well.

"I mean, it's great (for) confidence," senior Vasili Gentis said. "Especially that we scored in the first 10 minutes. To be able to score that quickly is awesome for us."

Gentis put the Tigers up 2-0 around 15 minutes later, but the Bulldogs didn't back down.

Poland quickly erased that 2-0 deficit with senior Derek Thomas taking advantage of a scrum and forcing the ball through.

In the minutes leading up to Poland's goal, the Bulldog attack was putting a lot of pressure on Howland's defense.

Unfortunately for Poland that one-goal deficit wouldn't last long. With two minutes remaining in the opening period, Howland junior Herb Lawson scored what would be the game-sealing goal to put the Tigers over the top.

Poland got a few more chances, but none would make contact with the back of the net.

"Our game plan was to try to attack them as much as we could," Poland coach Brian Garcar said. "We feel like we have some really good attacking players and a lot of offensive speed. We wanted to continue to try to put as many shots on (as we could) and we were hoping as many could go in the back of the net. We felt good about that one that was able to go in. We felt like we got a little bit of a second breath, but then we gave one up a little bit after that.

"It's a difficult night for these guys. These seniors have worked so hard to get us into this position. Somebody had to lose today and unfortunately it's just us."

The Bulldogs' season ends at 17-3-1. Poland graduates 10 seniors, who, in Garcar's words, are leaving the program better than they found it.

"When you get to play in back-to-back-to-back district championships, it's awfully special," Garcar said. "They helped win a district championship which hasn't been done here since 2014, they were back-to-back-to-back conference champs, so we owe them a lot.

"We always try to tell our guys to make sure the program is in a better spot when you leave it than when you entered it, and I think our program is in a much better spot now than before."

Howland (18-1-2) takes on Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy after their 1-0 victory over Bay. The Tigers are familiar with Bay, having played them last season and the year prior. But now they need to familiarize themselves with CVCA and the challenges the Royals will bring.

A little cleaning up can't hurt either.

"We've just got to clean up some of our touches," Stiles said. "Tonight, I thought some of our touches were a little off. We've got to get a little bit more creative in the attacking third and we've got to keep that defense as firm and strong (as we can) because that's really what we hang our hats on."

Start time is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at Twinsburg Tiger Stadium.