Norwalk shuts out Senior for tourney win

NORWALK — By her own admission, Claire Spettle hasn't been at her best on free kicks this season. It was hard to tell on Wednesday. Spettle drilled a 30-yard penalty kick with 30-plus minutes remaining in a scoreless match. Teammate Taryn Temple added another about 15 minutes later and the Truckers fended off Mansfield Senior, 2-0, in a Division III sectional championship match at Contractors Stadium. With the win, the No. 2-seeded Truckers improved to 15-2-1 overall. They face No. 4 Ontario (11-6-1) at 5 p.m. on Oct. 23 at Lexington High School. During the regular season, Norwalk posted a 2-1 win over the Tygers on Sept. 28 in Mansfield. On Wednesday, the Truckers were again having a hard time finding the back of the net, but not for lack of opportunities. Norwalk had eight shots on goal in the first half. Twice the Truckers just missed by kicking it over the crossbar, and Spettle missed by about a foot off the left post with 32 minutes left in the match. On her next chance, she did not miss. After she hit the turf once again in the physical match, the Tygers were whistled for a penalty in their attempt to deny the sophomore a breakaway chance. From the left side of the 30-yard line, Spettle's kick was on target, as the Senior goalkeeper backed up to try and catch it — but was too deep and unable to corral it. "You have to get it high on those kinds of kicks and get it over her head," Spettle said. "I haven't been doing great with my free kicks this year, but that was like … I had been on the ground so many times tonight, so I just had to put it in. "I just focused and tried to hit it up and get it over, and it worked." Still, the No. 6-seed Tygers didn't go quietly. With under 20 minutes left, Mansfield was on another aggressive possession and appeared to have a clean shot. But goalkeeper Lilly Farmer was able to lunge to her right and got her hand on the ball for a deflection and one of her four saves with 18:50 left in the match. Both moments were a big relief for head coach Michelle Sandor. "When we were at Mansfield, we had a defensive mistake that helped cost us a goal, so today we were really focused to not have any defensive breakdowns this time," Sandor said. "I knew we would get one because we were getting so many great opportunities and taking a lot of shots and kind of picking it apart — and we kept getting better and better at it. "I felt pretty confident we'd get one, but in a 0-0 tournament game, those nerves are still there. You still worry that we won't be able to finish or go to overtime." Finally, from the center of the field, Taryn Temple lobbed one over the Mansfield keeper's head from 10 yards out for an insurance goal and a 2-0 lead with 14:29 left in the match. "Claire's was a beautiful shot, and so was Taryn's," Sandor said. "They both kind of just chipped it over her head, and we kept telling them to keep shooting. I hardly ever get mad at a player for shooting. "Things happen, the ball bounces around or off the keeper or post. We had to keep making things happen and creating opportunities. It was an exciting, fun match." Up next is a big challenge in the Warriors, who have eight shutouts in their 18 matches. Spettle, who has 34 goals and 16 assists, knows the difficulty that awaits. But she's also happy to report back to practice. "It's amazing," she said. "We've had such a great season, and it feels good to extend it another week. I think it's just about getting those rest days and getting 100 percent. "We have to practice hard and prepare for that and get in the right headspace."