JFK rolls to 7-1 win vs. Boardman
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WARREN -- Led by a four-goal effort from senior Didi Ryan, Warren JFK scored early and often on Wednesday. Clad in their special 'Pink Out' jerseys, the Eagles took down Boardman, 7-1.
Ryan scored her first goal just under two minutes into the game. Before the end of the first half, Ryan had a hat trick.
Despite the 3-0 advantage at the break, Kennedy coach Kayla Zoccole wasn't thrilled -- not at the result, but in the execution. Missed opportunities, players out of position, and a lack of focus marred the Eagles in the first half. That changed definitively in the second.
"Their mentality made the difference. They're physically more than able, but sometimes they lack some confidence," Zoccole said. "I'm just trying to refocus them, because I'm telling you, these kids can score from anywhere on the field when they feel like they can."
After the break, Sophia Tilley, Maylee Nadaud and Zoie Luzadder each found the back of the net. Additionally, Ryan netted her fourth of the game and picked up a pair of assists. Sophia Beltran earned assists on four goals.
Boardman's goal came from senior Gina Mariani early in the second half.
Consistency has been the Spartans' Achilles' heel all season. One game may be drastically different from the rest in terms of effort and execution. Wednesday was one of the team's more underwhelming results in that regard.
"We've been trying all year to find (consistency), and it shows up in random spurts. We are so much a better team than the product that we've been putting out pretty much all season," Boardman coach Riley Mackall said. "There's a couple games we show up, and a lot of the time we don't. It's hard to find consistency and build it because honestly, it's like it's completely random. You don't know whether we're going to show up to play or not.
"Like today, today was a game that I thought that if we just played hard, we would probably give ourselves a good chance. We found the net, so it can be done, but today was definitely just an effort day. Like we obviously didn't want to be here, so that's our struggle right now, and it's hard to build consistency like that."
The Spartans (3-11) host league rival Canfield on Monday, while Kennedy looks to keep the momentum going, traveling to Hubbard on Saturday.
With the playoffs looming, the Eagles are focused on closing the year strong. After a district final appearance last season, the goal is to surpass that this time around. With a strong senior class centered around captains Ryan, Nadaud and Laney Condoleon, Kennedy hopes to keep playing together for as long as it can.
"The senior class is very special. There's six of them, and of that six, I have coached almost half of them since they were about six years old," Zoccole said. "This group of kids has meant a lot to me for a long time because they care about soccer, and that's all I care about too. So when all of us get together, they listen and we work well. They can really take it far."