Norwalk girls fall to Woodmore

NORWALK — Just the opponent alone was enough of a challenge. But when the Norwalk girls soccer team hosted Woodmore without star Claire Spettle, it was an even taller task on Wednesday on a hot, muggy evening at Contractors Stadium. The Wildcats beat both Perkins and Norwalk last season to win the Sandusky Bay Conference title outright en route to a 20-2-1 season that saw them lose 1-0 in a Division V regional championship. Over the past four seasons, Woodmore is 59-18-4 overall with a pair of regional final appearances. The Wildcats improved to 3-0 with Wednesday's 2-0 win over the short-handed Truckers. Spettle is committed to NCAA Div. I Bowling Green State University and has scored 124 career goals for Norwalk, which fell to 2-4 with the loss. "We knew being without Claire, this was going to be a good challenge," NHS head coach Michelle Sandor said. "And that would have been the case if she had played. Obviously we had to make some adjustments and rotate some people around. "I think we did a good job of trying to create some opportunities without her, but we're also still learning how to put together an offense when she's not in the game and what that looks like." Sophomore goalkeeper Becca Farmer made 12 saves in Wednesday's loss. Trailing 2-0 at halftime, the Truckers got few scoring chances in the first half against the Wildcats. Norwalk had a few more opportunities in the second half. The best chance came when Liv Darovich just missed a shot from close range among a scrum of players near the front of the net with under 20 minutes remaining. "In the second half we moved Bertha (Martinez) up top to give us a little spark, and that helped us a little," Sandor said. "She gives us great energy and can defend or play offense, so it was a good move for us to put her up top." Norwalk has scored just two goals in its four losses. "And that's something that we're going to keep working on," Sandor said. "But we've been struggling with injuries, and even roughly half the players out there tonight have battled something all season so far. It will be great when we get everyone full strength." Norwalk's other two losses came against other powerhouse programs. The Truckers fell 2-0 to Mansfield Madison on Aug. 22 and lost to Oak Harbor, 4-0, on Aug. 31. The Truckers open Northern Ohio Conference play next Wednesday (Sept. 9) against Huron. Prior to this season, the Truckers went 70-3-4 in SBC matches with six league titles in nine seasons. Six of the seven losses or ties came against Perkins, along with a loss to Woodmore last season. "I feel excited going into the new league," Sandor said. "We've really challenged ourselves with our early schedule, and even though we don't have as many wins as we'd like, at least we are challenging ourselves and preparing for what we will see." Sandor said Perkins will again be strong, but said Huron is up and coming, and Bellevue is improving after starting girls soccer in recent years. "There is a lot of good competition out there, so we're excited to get this weekend of rest under us and be ready to roll for next week," she said. Despite the early start, Sandor said she has a great group of girls to work with. "They have great attitudes and are fun to be around," she said. "That to me is always the biggest bright spot. On the field, we have great senior leaders. "CJ (Bennett) plays a tough middle for us and we have Claire obviously up top," Sandor added. "And Emmy (Emerson Reamer) has picked p a big role for us, and Kylah (Daniels) has been a beast in there. We've had great leadership, and I still believe that will take us a long way once we get into conference play."