Springfield Tennis Team Improves To 8-7 On The Year With Back-To-Back Wins
?BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
Springfield’s tennis team got back on track last week when it improved to 8-7 (2-5 in Northern Lakes League play) with a pair of wins over Rossford and Toledo Christian.
“That’s two more overall wins than we had last year and two more league wins than we had last year, so the kids and I are pretty jazzed up that we’ve improved,” said Springfield coach Gina Ciminillo. “It’s, kind of, putting us on the map a little bit.”
The Blue Devils’ eighth win came on senior night last Thursday against Toledo Christian.
SHS 4, Toledo Christian 1
Springfield swept the Eagles doubles teams as senior Linda Tran and junior Stacey Breedlove teamed up for a win over Lindsay Smith and Aubrey Laughlin at the first position and junior Sara Bauer and sophomore Caitlyn Houser defeated Ashley Rhinier and Crews at the second.
Both Blue Devils squads won with identical scores of 6-0, 6-1.
“Our doubles are keeping us afloat,” Ciminillo said. “They have been very consistent.
“It’s Sara and Caitlin’s first year playing together and Caitlin’s first year on the varsity, and Linda and Stacey are starting to gel and click and play together at the right times.”
Springfield also saw wins at second and third singles, where freshman Taylor Smith bettered Kara Lepkowski (6-1, 6-1) and senior Hayley Takats beat Kelly Rood (6-4, 6-3).
Toledo Christian’s lone win came at first singles, where Kendra Vicary outlasted junior Jamie Donaldson 6-2, 6-2.
As for Springfield’s two seniors – Takats and Tran – Ciminillo said that they would be “sorely missed.”
“Linda’s our team cheerleader,” she said. “She’s always positive. She’s our co-captain. She has always been willing to change positions or do whatever we needed her to do. She’s the ultimate team player.
“Hayley’s worked very hard to get where she’s at and we’re going to miss her as well. There are going to be two big holes in our lineup next year.”
SHS 3, Rossford 2
Two days earlier, the Blue Devils captured their second league win of the year in a hard-fought match at Rossford.
Similar to the Toledo Christian contest, Springfield’s doubles teams put the Blue Devils in a great position to win by sweeping its two matches.
Tran and Breedlove defeated the Bulldogs’ first double team of Gillian Appt and Olivia Slusher 6-1, 6-2, and Bauer and Houser went on to top Rossford’s second squad of Victoria Bialorucki and Charlene Nguyen 6-0, 6-1.
With all-league Bulldogs sisters Hanan and Dalila Saleh looming at first and second singles, Springfield’s best bet for a third win came at third singles.
There, Takats did not disappoint as she cemented the Blue Devils victory with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Krystin Young.
“Hayley had a very nice match against Rossford,” Ciminillo said. “It was nice for her to get a league win in the last NLL match of her career.”
Although Springfield gave the Saleh sisters two solid matches, they did manage to go on to win, as Hanan defeated Donaldson 6-0, 7-6 and Dalila outlived Smith in a tough three-setter, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
“The singles players all have hard jobs,” Ciminillo said. “Jamie and Taylor are our two best and they have to play the opposing team’s two best. Hanan and Dalila are both very good players, but both were awesome tennis matches.”
Springfield will next compete in the league tournament before wrapping up the regular season with a non-league match at Findlay on Monday, September 29.
“You always want to play your best tennis at the end of the season and we’re starting to come together here,” Ciminillo said.
“If we can come out and play the Springfield tennis I know we can, cut down on our mistakes and play more consistent, some upsets could happen. I think our best tennis is yet to come.”
Springfield Girls Notch First League Win
BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
Springfield’s girls soccer team registered its first Northern Lakes League win of the season at Rossford last Wednesday by shutting out the Bulldogs 4-0.
With textbook passing by midfielders Lindy Martin and Sarah Benbow and defender Lauren Roy, all juniors, the Blue Devils got several early cross attempts in the opening half.
Then, despite some solid defensive play by Rossford junior Rachel Swope, Springfield finally broke the scoreless tie when sophomore forward Chelsea Trombla dribbled through a trio of Bulldogs defenders for a goal at the 15:16 mark.
The goal seemed to bring the Blue Devils offense to life, as they closed the remainder of the half out with two more goals on six additional shots.
Springfield’s second goal came just two minutes after its first, when Benbow found the back of the net after fielding a nice set-up pass from Martin.
Then, with just four minutes remaining in the half, a hustling play by Shannon Kirkwood enabled junior forward Anna Szalkowski to push the score to 3-0 by scoring off a Martin corner kick.
The Blue Devils next carried their momentum into the second half, getting an almost immediate rebound goal from junior forward Kelsey Boehme within 30 seconds.
While Springfield didn’t score again, it made sure its lead would hold up by dominating the game’s next 20 minutes.
Rossford didn’t get its first shot of the half off until the 20:25 mark, partially due to the sound defense of Blue Devils junior Sam Tolson.
As Springfield continued to substitute players in with the clock winding down, the Bulldogs closed things out with seven of the game’s final eight shots.
Fortunately for the Blue Devils, freshman goalkeeper Bri Mullinger successfully stopped all four attempts on goal to preserve the Springfield shutout.
Despite the late barrage by Rossford, the Blue Devils ended up outshooting the Bulldogs on the night, 20-12.
Martin and Trombla led the way for Springfield with six shots apiece and Benbow and Boehme added three each.
Junior Jess Zappone saved both of Rossford’s shots on goal in the game’s first half and got solid defensive help from junior Jani Bockert as well.
Freshman Sarah Waggoner paced the Bulldogs’ offensive shooters with three attempts on goal.
Swope, senior Ashley Williams and junior Blair Caldwell added two more apiece.
Williams also recorded seven first-half saves for Rossford and senior Stephanie Curtis had another in the second half.
Senior defender Ana Mercer also played well in front of the Bulldogs net, despite the Rossford loss.
Clay 2, SHS 1
Two days earlier, Springfield suffered its fourth loss of the season in a one-goal loss to the Clay Eagles.
Clay got off to a good start and used its speed up top to net a pair of goals in the game’s first 20 minutes.
The Blue Devils made the proper adjustments shortly thereafter and finished the last 20 minutes of the half in high fashion – getting especially strong play from senior defender Shara Williams.
Springfield then began the second half with even more intensity and quickly became more offensive-minded.
Benbow caught a foul late in the half and cut the Eagles’ lead down to a goal by netting the ensuing penalty kick.
The Blue Devils actually posted a late rally, but eventually fell short after narrowly missing on three good scoring opportunities.
SHS 2, Bryan 1
A day after defeating Rossford, Springfield notched its seventh win of the season after a hard fought victory over Bryan.
The Golden Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead by catching a goal on a quick reset in the 18th minute.
Though the Blue Devils controlled the ball for most of the first half with skillful play from Martin, Benbow and Trombla, they just couldn’t seem to get a good shot off.
Finally though, in the 37th minute, Martin found Boehme on an excellent through ball and scored the equalizer.
Kirkwood fought off a handful of Bryan goals as the second half got underway, setting up the eventual game-winner with about 20 minutes left in the game.
The goal began when Benbow connected with Martin on a good cross.
Martin, in turn, trapped the ball and out-maneuvered the Golden Bears’ defense to stick a shot in the far post.
Springfield has just four games left on its regular season schedule, including Bowling Green, Perrysburg, Whitmer and Maumee.
Springfield Girls Golfers Place Fourth At NLL Tournament
BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
Springfield sophomore Maggie Adams and senior Sarah Dean earned first-team all-Northern Lakes League status last Monday after leading the Blue Devils to a fourth-place finish in the conference tournament at Riverby Hills Golf Club.
“I obviously couldn’t be happier with Maggie and Sarah’s performances,” said Springfield coach Shannon Brazzil.
Adams and Dean tied for the day’s fourth- and sixth-best scores by shooting 91 and 95, respectively.
“Maggie came into the league tournament with the second-most league points and finished second overall,” Brazzil said. “You can’t be much more solid than that. I think she did a great job.
“It was bittersweet for Sarah. She and I had a little talk before she teed off and I told her that she’s the reason why we even had a team there. She came out and she did her job again. She’s done exactly what she’s needed to do every single day that I’ve worked with her.”
Adding to the dynamic duo’s scores were juniors Jani Bockert and Katie Zaborski, who each earned honorable mention with scores of 105 and 109.
“Jani did a great job,” Brazzil said. “When she turned with a 50, I was just ecstatic. There was a smile on her face when she made the turn and I think it carried her straight through. I was very proud of her.”
Junior Anna Szalkowski and freshman Lauren Leon also competed for Springfield on the day, finishing up with a 117 and a 141, respectively.
Northview’s Brooke Darah earned medalist status for the tournament with an impressive score of 80.
“She’s fantastic,” Brazzil said. “I actually watched her for a while because she was in the same group as Maggie and she was just on fire. She came to play.”
Perrysburg’s Kendall Tudor followed up at 86 and Rossford’s Catherine Haskins shot a 90.
Adams next tied Perrysburg’s Bailey Wiland at 91 and Northview’s Ali Sayre turned in a 93.
Dean then tied Maumee’s Becki Hayes and Northview’s Mamie Silver at 95.
Northview topped the team scores with a 369, narrowly edging Perrysburg out by two strokes.
Maumee placed third at 391 and the Blue Devils’ score of 400 proved two strokes better than fifth-place Rossford and five better than Southview.
“I thought we played very well,” Brazzil said. “I was hoping to be in that third spot, but Maumee came out and put a fantastic number together.”
Anthony Wayne closed things out with a seventh-place score of 431.
Bowling Green did not field a team this year.
The top three teams were the same in the final league standings, with Northview taking the No. 1 spot with 34 points, Perrysburg taking second at 31 and Maumee placing third with 22.
Springfield tied Southview for fourth place with 19 points each and Rossford and Anthony Wayne took the last two spots with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
SHS 205, Maumee 216
The Blue Devils’ eighth win of the season came over Maumee at Heather Downs Country Club on September 8.
Adams again led the Springfield charge with a 47 and Zaborski and Dean followed up with scores of 49 and 50.
“Having Katie come in with a 49 actually saved the match,” Brazzil said. “She’s come through in some really big matches.”
The Blue Devils’ final scorer was German exchange student Valerie Schmitz, who finished at 59.
Sophomore Sarah Lewandowski and Leon also competed for Springfield on the day, finishing with scores of 64 and 66.
Senior Katie McIntire and junior Jackie Baas paced the Panthers with twin 53s, junior Sharayah Shepler shot a 54 and Hayes ended up with a 56.
With its regular season now in the books, Springfield will next travel to Detwiler Golf Course on Tuesday, September 30, for the 2008 sectional tournament.
“It could be a lofty goal to say that I would like our team to get out, but I really still think we have a chance,” Brazzil said.
“On a day where all the girls are there and they put the good scores together, I think we could be right in it. If we don’t get out as a team, the goal will definitely be to sneak one or two out in individual spots.”
