Huron takes care of business in 6-1 win over Clyde

HURON — Entering Wednesday's home match against Clyde, the Huron girls soccer team had scored just one goal over its previous three games. The Tigers were 1-1-1 in that stretch, showing strong defense to keep themselves in games. Huron had two goals in the first nine minutes against the Fliers, winning 6-1 in Northern Ohio Conference action. "I thought we came out a little sluggish in the first half," Huron coach Josh Thompson said. "I thought in the second half we came out and took control of the game. We like to play a high pressing style of soccer. I think we had Clyde pinned back in their half for pretty much the entire second half. That was more of how we want to play." Ava Manner quickly got the Tigers (4-1-2, 1-0-1 NOC) on the board, striking past Clyde goalie Macey Carter just 70 seconds into the contest. Huron didn't wait around long to double the lead. Erin Findley took a pass, rocketed off a shot and scored with 31 minutes to go in the first half. Both teams struggled to get things going from there. That was until the Tigers struck again. Manner scored a second goal, putting Huron ahead 3-0 with 8:50 left in the opening half. "Ava is our engine. We go as she goes," Thompson said. "She worked a lot this week on striking the ball. We're trying to get a little more power in her shots. I think especially on her first one, she drilled it. Practice paid off. She's our leading goal scorer this year for a reason." Clyde (3-4, 1-1) got a bit of momentum back when Mallory Meggitt answered four minutes later. That got the Fliers within 3-1 at halftime. "That could have been a huge momentum swing for us," Clyde coach Rob Ochier said. "That goal was big. It pumped us up quite a bit at halftime. Honestly I thought we had one early on that probably was a goal that just wasn't called. The game probably could have been 3-2 or even 2-2 at halftime." Manner continued her big night early in the second half. Much like the first half, she tallied a goal minutes in. This one was her third of the night, pushing Huron's lead back to three goals with 37:10 to play. "We talked at halftime that it was mainly self-inflicted mistakes," Thompson said. "Our defensive balance was not there in the first half. The midfield help wasn't getting back like they needed to. Clyde threw a lot of 50-50 balls down the field and drew the foul and got the shot." The Tigers finished off the scoring with goals from Rylee McConnell with 24:31 to go and Olivia Kudrin in the final minute. "Huron is a very, very good team," Ochier said. "They've improved tremendously the last couple years. Coach Thompson is doing a tremendous job with them. We played very well in the first half and I was happy with that. But, some injuries and a little bit of inexperience hurt us." Clyde played without Mimi Greenslade, who was injured Saturday in a loss to Galion. Greenslade scored two goals in the Fliers' 5-2 win over Vermilion on Sept. 9. "Clyde missing Mimi changes what they want to do," Thompson said. "She's a terrific player, but at the end of the day, I don't really care who is out on the field. We have a job and that's to win games and that's what we're trying to do." Ochier hopes Greenslade isn't out too long. The Fliers are back in action Monday at Toledo Christian. "Hopefully we're building," Ochier said. "Hopefully we're getting better, which I think we are. Last year we had some success and hopefully we can build on that and build on our momentum this year. We have some games coming up that I think are a good opportunity to get some wins. "I think it was good to play a quality team tonight." Huron will be challenged in its next two contests. The Tigers host Ottawa Hills (7-2) on Saturday and host Oak Harbor (8-1) on Monday. Thompson is confident with a goalkeeper like Lucy Hinners defending for Huron. "Best keeper in the conference. I'll put that on record," Thompson said. "We've given up one goal in the run of play. The other three goals have been two free kicks and a penalty kick. We were chasing a game against Galion and I pushed numbers up and they got us on a counter attack. "When you have (Hinners) back in goal, I'll take our chances against anybody."