Defense shines for Norwalk in key win

NORWALK — The chaos can be intense. But Lilly Farmer knows never to take her eye off the ball. In a huge Sandusky Bay Conference girls soccer match, Farmer and the Norwalk defense was tested by visiting Woodmore on Monday. It wasn't easy, but the Truckers proved up to the challenge. Farmer and the defense made a goal by Claire Spettle stand in the 1-0 victory at Contractors Stadium. With the win, Norwalk improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the SBC, while Woodmore fell to 3-2-1 and 2-1. Farmer finished with seven saves at goalkeeper for the Truckers. She was under pressure for much of the second half, as she made three saves in the final 31-plus minutes while the Wildcats also missed two shots wide of the net. There was plenty of action — but no goals allowed. "It's intense," Farmer said of all the action in front of the net. "You can't ever drop your focus and always have to be watching and on top of your game. If you make one slip up, they score. "I'm always watching and talking to others and just being confident. It gets frantic, but you need to rely on everyone else, and everyone else relies on you." The lone goal of the match came at the 12:48 mark of the first half. Abby Koenig was looking to find Spettle on a cross from the end zone area to the right of the net, Her kick to her teammate deflected off a Woodmore defender, but Spettle was still able to corral the ball and then find the back of the net. It was Spettle's 14th goal of the season in six matches. "We fought for that one, and it was kind of a different goal for us," Norwalk head coach Michelle Sandor Said. "A lot of times it's Claire on her own, and it was great to see us battle. I talked to our team about our heart and grit and willingness to play together and fight for every ball. I think that is what really takes us to that next level." Norwalk had a couple decent scoring chances in the second half as well, but the Wildcats were equally up to the challenge. But Sandor knew coming in that Woodmore was going to again be one of the top SBC contenders in Norwalk's path of a league title defense. "Sometimes we're not always the highest skilled team, but we make up for it in effort and the fight that they have for every ball," Sandor said of her team. "I think we saw that tonight on the field with every play one hundred percent on chasing every ball and really stopping them from having any free shots or breakaways. "I was really impressed with their effort and just how well they played together as a team." The 10th-year coach is also relieved to get through the match with a win. "We knew it would be a big one for us, and they did a great job of marking Claire," Sandor said. "But also, Claire did a great job of still continuing to mix things up and put pressure on them and finding ways to create opportunities for other players to get through. "Her and Taryn (Temple) played great off each other, and she and Abby seem to have an instinct where each other will be at all times on the field. They always seem to find each other. It's a good one to be able to put away and be done with. Woodmore is a tough team, so for us to get this win feels really good." Farmer said the match is the best her team has played this season to date. "We all were supporting each other and had each other's backs, and I think it was a big reason we were able to push through and get the win," she said. "It feels amazing. "After losing last week to Lexington, that was a hard hit coming off a win over Madison. But this really brings us back up. This is a confidence boost for us." Norwalk is back in SBC action on Wednesday at Clyde.