By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Head coach Rob Harrison did not expect his Aurora team to be undefeated four games into the season.

He also didn’t foresee having the group of girls he has.

“I’m not talking just soccer-wise. I’m talking team-wise,” Harrison said. “They’ve been great, have accepted me as the new coach. And they get out there and they work.”

The Greenmen defeated visiting Cleveland Heights Beaumont School 3-0 on Aug. 31.

“I had an injured player, so another forward, senior Kaia Board, stepped in and scored two goals in the previous game and then two more against Beaumont,” said Harrison. “She’s fast, she’s calm on the ball in front of the goal. She missed the last two years because of injuries, so she hadn’t played since her freshman year. When she comes in, she’s dangerous and can put the ball in the back of the net.

“It was nice to get a shutout.”

Then there was Aurora’s big comeback win against Solon in the opener.

“It’s just a team that fights and never gives up,” said the coach. “It’s a great bunch of ladies to coach.”

Even a freshman, midfielder Callie Conrad, scored Aurora’s last goal against the Beaumont Blue Streaks, a nice volley from about 25 yards out, which was assisted by junior left back/winger Izzy Savukus.

Aurora led 2-0 at the intermission.

“We played one of our better halves of the season that first half,” the coach said. “Our defensive marking in the midfield was a lot better than the earlier games, so it’s slowly starting to come together. I got the bench more minutes, which was nice. I only had six girls on the bench, and I think every one of them got at least 20 minutes. We’re trying to build that depth up in case something happens.”

KENT ROOSEVELT

Hat tricks are becoming the norm for the Kent Roosevelt girls soccer team’s Audrey Haines.

The senior forward scored three goals in convincing wins over Metro Athletic Conference (MAC) rivals Woodridge on Aug. 25 and Cuyahoga Falls Sept. 1. In between, on Aug. 29, Haines hung up yet another hat trick to lead the Rough Riders to a 5-3 victory at Lake.

Kent Roosevelt is 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference.

“Audrey is definitely kind of an anchor to our ability to move forward. She’s incredibly creative off of the ball and fairly dangerous,” head coach Sammy Spicer said. “You have to know where she’s at at all times because she can get away from you pretty easily. She has the ability to create on her own, but also is willing to distribute to her teammates. She’s incredibly selfless, and actually sometimes we’d like her to be a little bit more selfish.

“Audrey’s three goals against Lake were huge goals. They were goals one, three and five for us, so they tied the score, were the go-ahead and the one that sealed the deal. Everyone was so excited for her because she just kept working so hard the entire game. And to see that success come to life and put us in a really good spot was huge.”

The win over the Blue Streaks was a battle royale that was tied 2-2 at the half.

“Everyone was willing to pick up if someone couldn’t do what they needed to do,” said Spicer. “I think a lot of our success early on attributes to just how close the girls are and how willing they are to be there for one another not just as teammates but as friends and family. They’re willing to battle for one another and sacrifice for one another. It’s just a great way to start the season, knowing how hard they worked all summer. It’s a pretty good feeling that some of that hard work is paying off relatively early. Everyone is excited about having a 4-0 start.”

Also scoring for the Rough Riders were midfielders Marie Vorhauer, a senior, and Sammi Maccarone, a sophomore. Junior midfielder Maggie Pazderak notched a pair of assists. Junior goalkeeper Grace Schoenberger totaled five saves.

“Lake,” said the coach, “has some really tough players who were coming at us, so Grace had to come up with some pretty huge saves to keep it a tight game and not give them the balance when energy started shifting. She had a great game.”

FIELD

Field continued its scorching start to the season Aug. 29 with a 2-0 victory at home over Alliance.

The Falcons are now 5-0-1.

After a scoreless first half, the home team scored two goals in a span of less than 6 minutes — the first by Keira Schock and the second by Emma Knapp.

Schock’s goal was assisted by holding midfielder Peyton Schock, and Knapp’s goal was assisted by center attacking midfielder Ava Murphy.

“Keira’s goal,” head coach Tom Nader said, “came after she made a nice save along the right sideline that she quickly turned into a maneuver around a defender. Then she ripped a shot from the right edge of the goal box. It was a really nice effort.

“The second goal came on a well-placed cross from Ava to Emma, who was in the right position to be ready to finish on the back-post.”

Nader was happy with his team’s performance, especially the offense, but knows there is room to improve.

“It was a solid win for us. We created a lot of great scoring opportunities, but struggled to finish to our ability,” he said. “I was really proud of our girls for how hard they kept working to create offense. When you have a couple of shots hit the top crossbar, a couple of other missed opportunities that we usually finish and also have a missed penalty kick, it is only natural for the frustration to begin to mount. But the team remained steady and just kept playing the game. That is a sign of the mental maturity that we have seen from this group since the preseason.”

Defensively, Field has a lot of experience and plays with chemistry.

Junior captain Audrey Richmond leads the way.

“Audrey has been a starter since the first game of her freshman year,” said the coach. “She sets the tone and is so consistent.”

Senior captain Kayla Phillips, junior Lauren West, sophomore Ava Mondello and freshmen Ruby Roberts and Keira Schock have all played major roles on the defensive line, as well.

“We also have a midfield that plays with a very high work rate,” Nader said, “which helps support our defense, especially in the middle led by Peyton and Ava (Murphy).”

The coach is thrilled with the Falcons’ early-season success.

“Our start has been the result of a very hard-working and coachable group,” he said. “They play with enthusiasm and they enjoy each other. It is not uncommon for players to invest time working together outside of our normal practice time or to show up an hour before our scheduled start time for practice. They are working hard and having fun, and enjoying every day with each other.”

ROOTSTOWN

After a 7-1 loss to Field to open the season, Rootstown has dominated its opponents, outscoring them 25-7 while going 3-0-1 for a 3-1-1 season mark.

The Rovers have done this despite having, due to a player with a torn ACL, only 14 players on the roster.

“I was expecting some challenges,” head coach Tara Langston said, “in terms of just having people step up to owning their positions and kind of following through with having a new coach and my verbiage and all of those things. I feel like all of the girls have kind of fallen into place with understanding and respecting the team itself, respecting themselves as players and just wanting as much as they can get from the game itself. I’m shocked in a great way for that.”

Rootstown’s latest conquest was a 9-0 victory on Aug. 29 at Bedford.

Senior center attacking midfielder Elliott Smallfield was everywhere against the Bearcats, scoring three goals and dishing out three assists.

“Elliott has a really good vision for the field, and she’s a very patient player,” the coach said. “She works the ball forward, but also utilizes her teammates to get the job done. I think she’s a very selfless player, which puts her in a lot of positions to score where she’s kind of making sure others are involved in using what we have to get the job done. She’s very poised about it. She doesn’t really rush it, she just kind of keeps hacking away at it and gets where she needs to go.”

WATERLOO

It was a phenomenal night for Waterloo on Aug. 31 at home against Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Division rival Brookfield.

Not just because the Vikings won 12-0 in the second half, but also due to the fact that two players — junior forwards Koralee Jenior and Alexis Henry — produced hat tricks. Jenior also had an assist.

“Alexis and Koralee complement each other really well,” head coach Bill Jackson said. “They know where each other wants the ball, they’re really good at getting into their spaces and opening up opportunities for the other. They play a really good game off each other.”

Waterloo improved to 2-2-1 overall and 1-1 in the division. Senior Julia Boyle contributed two goals.

“Julia does anything you ask,” said Jackson. “She can score the ball with both feet, she’s an excellent ball-handler and she’s also a very good defender. She’s the ultimate team player, a plug-in player who you can put anywhere you need. It’s like having a coach on the field.”

The one-sided win over the Warriors was the perfect result on Youth Night.

“Everybody played quite a bit,” said the coach. “I rotated the squad pretty heavy. It was a great opportunity to get people into the game, get some younger players some more experience in a game setting.”

STREETSBORO

Streetsboro’s only loss of the season by a 6-1 score on Aug. 29 at Stow was pretty much decided early on.

“Stow jumped on us pretty quickly in the first half,” said head coach Ryan Willard, whose squad trailed 5-1 at halftime. “It took us a while to get into the rhythm of the game, way too long, and they definitely took advantage of it and really hurt us with some good crosses and finishes.

“I figured that they might be a little bit better than us, maybe a one- or two-goal difference. I didn’t necessarily see coming what happened. I still think that if we saw them again, it would be a much more competitive game. But that’s soccer. Things happen sometimes.”

The Rockets actually took an early lead on senior defender Lyra Sadowski’s goal.

“It was a corner kick that popped all the way back out, and Lyra just sent it back in and scored the goal,” Willard said. “She’s been an incredible bright spot for us this year. She dealt with some injuries last year and certainly didn’t get to play the amount she deserved, so I’m really happy for her to be back playing. She keeps our defense really well organized.”

Despite the tough defeat to the Bulldogs, Streetsboro can still hang its hat on a 3-1-1 start to the season.

Said the coach, “I’m happy with how we’re playing.”

GARFIELD

Garfield head coach Aaron Gilbert lost a staggering 18-of-28 players from last year’s team — 13 to graduation and five others who decided not to play this season.

The G-Men fielded only nine players to start the 2026 season, but the players took it upon themselves to fix that problem.

They “recruited” their friends to come out for the team and got about 10 new people. Inexperience is certainly an issue for this year’s team.

“We have a couple of solid players who are back from last year, but we’re really trying to build around a couple people,” Gilbert said. “For a lot of players, it’s their first time ever playing the sport. Just a lot of youth. Just trying to get them in proper positions is kind of a battle every game. We start two freshmen in the back on defense.”

It is understandable that it took five games for Garfield to enter the win column this season — 3-0 on Aug. 25 at Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Division rival Mineral Ridge. After a scoreless first half, it was a different story in the second half.

“We were doing some nice things, we had some opportunities in the first half,” said Gilbert. “Things just finally started clicking a little bit in the second half.”

Senior forwards Kylene McMayon and Tao Bowers each scored, with Bowers’ goal assisted by McMayon and McMayon’s goal assisted by senior midfielder Becca Evans. Junior midfielder Payton Powers also scored.

“The three of them did a good job of being in the right place at the right time,” said the coach. “Payton’s goal was a little bit more of a rip from distance. She hit it hard enough that the keeper couldn’t keep the ball in her hands and it got through. The other two were close, inside the six.”

Although the G-Men have only one win in five games, they have lost only two games with two ties overall. They are 1-1-1 in the Grey Division.

“We’ve shown a lot of growth in each game,” Gilbert said. “We knew we had some winnable games in the front half of our schedule. We know it’s going to get really, really tough in the back half. So trying to get some confidence to be able to play against those better teams later in the year is really what we’re trying to build right now. It was good for the girls to get that win and feel that their efforts are not going without some sort of a reward.”

CRESTWOOD

Last year, Crestwood finished 0-12 and had to cancel the last handful of games because there were not enough players to field a team.

“We had 11 players, and by the time injuries took over and all of that, we were down to seven,” head coach Scot Etling said. “The whole point of last season was to keep the program going, so we knew we were going to take it hard.”

That is what made the Red Devils’ first win in two years, 5-2 at home over Newton Falls on Aug. 31, so special.

“That was huge for the kids,” said Etling, whose team was up 2-0 at halftime. “They played together as a team for the first time in a long time. They did everything they had to do to find a way to win. It’s a step forward, and we go from there. We’re trying to improve every game, every day, every way we can.”

Pacing Crestwood, now 1-5-1 on the season, was sophomore forward Elissa Terry with two goals.

“Elissa is left-footed, so we put her on the right side so she gets more opportunities,” said the coach. “The big plus was she shot from outside the box, created some good opportunities and followed up a lot of them. She’s just in the right place at the right time a lot of times. She’s learning how to play the forward position and how to hustle. It’s part of that development.”

With one goal apiece were junior midfielder Hailey Pesarchick, sophomore midfielder Ava Macik and freshman forward Jaley Wilson. Freshman midfielder Briella Hyland had an assist.

Senior goalkeeper Alanna O’Bryant notched seven saves.

“Alanna just doesn’t quit,” Etling said. “She had some really good saves. She’s really good at directing the defense and keeping everybody on their toes. She’s taken a lot of shots over the years and made a lot of saves, so this win is especially big for her.”

SOUTHEAST

Head coach Hannah Thomas felt that her Southeast team was more than ready for its matchup on Aug. 31 at Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Division rival Champion.

“We’d come off a couple really tough games the previous two weeks (6-1 defeats to

Salem and Marlington),” Thomas said. “I thought that prepared us well for Champion. I knew it was going to be a battle.”

A 2-2 tie at halftime had the Pirates thinking upset, but they wound up falling by a score of 6-3, slipping to 2-3-1 overall and 1-1 in the division.

Junior forward Grace Wheeler turned in a hat trick, scoring all of her team’s goals — two on penalty kicks and the other on a free kick. The junior forward is coming off of an ACL tear early last season.

“She’s just trying to get back in the groove,” said Thomas.

If this is how she performs when she is getting “back in the groove,” imagine what Wheeler will accomplish when she is 100 percent herself again.

“Grace is a phenomenal player,” said Thomas. “She’s definitely a standout leader for us and really helps her teammates. She facilitates the ball very well and has the ability to see the field and run into open space.”