Ramirez scores only goal in Pirates' win

PERKINS TWP. — They say defense wins championships. Perkins won its first district girls soccer title in program history last year with a shutout win. The Pirates picked up where they left off, shutting out Maumee 1-0 in non-league action on Friday. Junior Lucy Miller recorded a school-record 15 shutouts last year and tallied her first one this season against a tough Panthers squad. Miller credited her defense with turning away a lot of opportunities by Maumee. "Honestly, I thought I was going to take a lot more shots," Miller said. "I'm proud of how the defense played. Maumee was hitting it too long a lot of the time, I think. I don't think I took one direct shot. A lot of them just rolled into me." Perkins scored the lone goal of the game in the first half. Off of a corner kick, Isabella Ramirez was able to sneak one past Maumee goalkeeper Lauren Liwo. Despite Liwo getting a hand on the ball, the Pirates went up with 29:32 to play in the first half. Ramirez was injured in July and was just cleared for full contact Wednesday. She wore a precautionary mask on her face for protection. "It was off a nice corner piece," Perkins coach Scott McVeigh said. "She bent one in and that's a good goalkeeper. I remember her from last year. I think she got blocked a little bit, but got a mitt on it. It just happened to go in. We were just talking the other day about (Ramirez) bending one in." The two teams played to a 0-0 draw last year. One goal deciding the game didn't surprise McVeigh in the slightest bit. "It was a typical Maumee versus Perkins game to open it," he said. "I think over the last five years we've opened with them, it's been a one-goal differential between us. It was everything we expected coming in." The defense did the rest of the work. McVeigh was pleased with the play of Jordyn Brunner, Haylie Henning and Emma Mullins. None of them are seniors as the Pirates have just one — Adalynn West — on their 25-girl roster. "We've got a good core group of juniors back and some of them, it's their third year starting," McVeigh said. "We had a couple that started as freshmen. We have a lot of young girls that are inexperienced, but learning. We want to get them a little bit better every day." After winning a district title last year, Perkins will garner a little bit more attention this season. Early on, playing well every night is key for the Pirates. Perkins was knocked around by Oak Harbor in a scrimmage earlier this week. McVeigh said that might have been the best thing that could happen to the Pirates right before the season started. "We want to see the consistency, especially with our core," McVeigh said. "We know what we're getting from them. They step on the field, whether practice on a Monday morning or a game on a Friday night, and we know what we're getting from them. "I thought tonight we were really controlled the ball better than we did in any of our scrimmages."