Edison weathers early storm, rallies past Port Clinton

MILAN — In what turned out to be the pivotal moment on a rainy Thursday night at Bolt Field, Lydia McQuillen didn't have much choice. Edison's senior, first-year goalkeeper saw the soccer ball fall kindly to a wide open Morgan Woods five yards out. There was no time to dive left or right to prevent a tying goal. Instead, McQuillen lunged straight toward the ball, arms outstretched, and hoped. The firmly hit shot nailed McQuillen across her elbows and bounced away, danger averted. "That was one of her best saves of the season," Edison coach Matt Fox said. Instead of a match all square at halftime, Edison (6-8-2, 4-4-1 SBC) turned its one-goal lead to three before eventually securing a 4-2 victory over Port Clinton (5-9-0, 3-5-0). "We've been waiting to hit our stride, and this game is definitely that game we needed," Fox said. McQuillen made nine saves on a night far from ideal for a goalkeeper. A steady rainfall kept her gloves dripping and the ground around her slick. There was no time for style points on this night. "It's just get it away," McQuillen said. "A punch, just get a hand on it, don't try and catch it if you know you can't. Just get it away from the goal." After Brienna Marcy set Edison's single-season clean sheets record (7) last fall, McQuillen entered Thursday night one shy of it and will get at least a couple more chances to equal or break it. "My defense is there, they put in 100 percent all the time," McQuillen said. At the other end of the pitch Thursday, Edison's attackers took advantage of the slick conditions for two first-half goals. The Chargers had fallen behind 1-0 when Gladys Wiechman assisted Amelia Finn's 20th goal of the season, but Amelia Chartrant made a smooth turn and slid the ball along the slick grass into the bottom corner for 1-1 after about 20 minutes. Joy Jordan's hustle gave Edison the lead. A Kellyn Ritchie shot from distance bounced just far enough away from the keeper for an on-rushing Jordan to stick a foot in and finish. "We talked at halftime about how well they bounced back," Fox said. "They bounced back with a vengeance and never let up after giving up that first goal." After McQuillen sent the Chargers to the intermission with the advantage, they dominated the second half. That included a curving corner kick from Ritchie that Chartrant met squarely with her forehead for her second goal of the net and a 3-1 Edison lead. "We talked at halftime about getting our head on the ball, so I'm glad I was able to do that," Chartrant said. "Kellyn hit a beautiful ball, right to me. Right before we went in the box, she gave me a high five and said, 'I'll send it to you.' And she did." Ingrid Berckmueller, a pacey winger, made it 4-1 when she made a run centrally to latch onto a ball played over the top and calmly slotted a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner. "We didn't play as well in the first 10 minutes as we did the entire game," Chartrant said. "We had 70 minutes of really good soccer, probably our best 70 minutes we've had all year." Port Clinton got one back late when Woods converted on a rebound, but that would be it from the visitors. It was a well-timed victory for Edison, with district seedings being finalized by coaches Friday before the tournament draw takes place Sunday. The Chargers have had a bit of an up-and-down fall, dealing with a tough early schedule and various lineup changes. Edison's play Thursday looked like a squad starting to put it all together, from goalkeeper up to attack and everywhere in between, just at the right point on the calendar. "We've got players in the right position, a game plan that the girls executed perfectly," Fox said. "That's something we've been working on all season, and they hit it on the head tonight."