Akron Hoban girls soccer too much for St. Marys

LEXINGTON - Akron Hoban's best player was out for the year.

However, Hoban still had plenty of firepower available at both ends of the field.

Akron Hoban's Margaret Woods scored both goals to give Hoban a 2-0 victory over St. Marys in the girls soccer Division II regional semifinals Wednesday at Lexington High School.

Hoban controlled the play in the midfield most of the night and Woods scored both goals in the first half. Hoban ended up outshooting St. Marys, 19-5.

The key for Hoban, defensively, was senior midfielder Marissa Decker following Western Buckeye League player of the year, Kaysha Dietz, wherever she went. Dietz struggled to get a breath of clean air, as Decker tagged along next to her the entire match. Dietz managed just two shots.

"We pretty much knew if we shut 13 (Dietz) down they would have a hard time," Hoban coach Benny Pietrangelo said. "She (Decker) plays man-to-man against tough players and she did a good job. She's played for me four years and she knows what she has to do."

Hoban (19-1-1) advances to the regional title game against the Liberty-Benton-Millbury Lake winner at 12 p.m. Saturday at Findlay.

St. Marys ends its season 18-2-1.

The first few minutes Hoban's center midfielders, Decker and Mary Reilly, gobbled loose balls and charged through the St. Marys' defense. Once they had possession deep in the St. Marys' end, they began setting up the forwards.

"We knew they were going to be a physical team and I don't think the girls quite knew the level how physical they were going to be," St. Marys coach Paul Dingledine said. "They come through, go for every ball, they contest every ball and they play hard the whole game."

With 16 minutes, 26 seconds left in the first half, Juliana Libertin came down the right side and sent a cross into the 18-yard box. Woods settled it and fired it into the lower-right corner of the net to give Hoban a 1-0 lead.

"It came from Jules and I held off the girl and took a left-footed shot," Woods said. "I was looking back door (the far post)."

Pietrangelo added, "When we scored that first goal, it took a lot of the air out of them."

Almost eight minutes later, Libertin got free inside the box and fired a 12-yard shot that was saved by St. Marys keeper Macy Davis-Ferrall. The rebound got loose and Woods pounded it into the back of the net.

That gave Hoban a 2-0 lead with 8:05 left in the first half.

"Jules took a shot, it hit off the goalie and I was there," Woods said. "I came in and saw nothing but goal."

Hoban goalkeeper Francesca Gironda had three saves for her 14th shutout. It was her fifth straight shutout in the tournament.

And consider that the No. 1 player for Hoban is Jessacca Gironda, who plays forward during the season, but goalkeeper in the tournament. Jessacca Gironda, a national touring player, is out for the season with a knee injury.

Davis-Ferrall made 11 saves for St. Marys, with several spectacular stops, to keep the margin at two goals. The two goals she gave up were the first two she yielded in the postseason.

"Macy played a heck of a game," Dingledine said. "Our defenders, other than the two goals they scored, played well. The goals came on two breakdowns, defensively."