Sep. 11—If anything over the last 72 hours, the Gilmour girls became immersed in what the next step requires against two of the better Division I sides Greater Cleveland has to offer.
One of those matches went very well. The other very much did not.
Unfortunately for the Lancers, after an unbeaten start and with deep D-II postseason aspirations, the latter occurred Sept. 11 as Medina Highland came to town.
Grace Shondel had a hat trick as the Hornets steamrolled through Gates Mills and the hosts, 5-1, dealing Gilmour its first loss of the season.
The Lancers (5-1-1) displayed commendable moxie to “win” the second half. The problem was, they were staring at a 5-0 halftime deficit.
“Just calm down and grow from this,” Gilmour coach Robert Harrison said. “I told them at halftime, ‘Let’s go out and win the second half.’ And they came out here, and what I expected in the first half, they came out here the first 15, 20 minutes and they put pressure on Highland. Highland was kicking the ball out of bounds. We put one in the back of the net, even before they started bringing in their subs. And we won that second half.
“The problem is, soccer is two halves. So when you go into that first half, we were not aggressive. We were not winning the 50-50 balls. We were knocking the ball out for throw-ins and just giving the ball right back. But for this team, it’s a lesson. It’s a tough lesson to learn.”
Highland (7-0) looked every bit the part of a D-I state poll-caliber side, taking the lead in the 11th minute and not being seriously threatened from there.
Shondel collected a Jillian Clark endline cross for a strike for that opener, and it was a 2-0 match when Jillian Miller put away a finish in the 16th.
Addie Nemeth nearly pulled one back for Gilmour 24 seconds later, but was turned away nicely by Hornets goalkeeper Hailey Trzaska.
Highland handled the rest with precision.
Grace Madison struck in the 21st and Shondel scored twice, powering home a left-footed effort in the 36th and a follow-up header in the 38th, to blow open the 5-0 halftime margin.
Harrison implored his side for better after halftime, which it did deliver.
Nemeth had a tapper in the 47th minute after Brooklyn Steiner had a touch off a diagonal ball from the right flank deflected for the Lancers’ tally.
#NHsoccer Since I have it & couldn’t upload it in real time, here’s Addie Nemeth’s goal in the 47th tonight against Highland pic.twitter.com/jzSZU9Vf1x
— Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) September 12, 2023
After a 0-0 draw with Twinsburg on Sept. 9, a big result for the program, and after this reality check two days later, Harrison is hopeful the Lancers will benefit from seeing this caliber of competition before October.
“We’ve got Hawken on (Sept. 14), and we need to show up against Hawken and play the style of soccer that we know we can play,” Harrison said. “Hopefully this is a growing lesson.
“On varsity, I’ve got five freshmen playing on the squad. We’re a young squad. Our midfield has two sophomores and a freshman. They just have to learn — hate to say it: They have to learn to lose and then know how to come out the next time why they lost and learn from it and go, come out and get a victory.”
#NHsoccer My postmatch video analysis of Gilmour’s 5-1 loss to Medina Highland
Bottom line, nothing we don’t all already know: It’s got to be better in big matches than that opening 40
This is a capable Gilmour side that had a rough night vs a great D1 side
(Match story shortly) pic.twitter.com/qNNCCkwCfo
— Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) September 12, 2023
