By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Waterloo’s 2-2 tie Oct. 2 at home with Canton Central Catholic — a game in which the Crusaders tied the score with but 5 minutes left in the game — left a sour taste in the Vikings players’ mouths.

Pity Newton Falls, Waterloo’s next opponent two days later on Oct. 4 on the Tigers’ home field. The visitors knew, if they won, they would clinch the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference championship.

“They really wanted to go out there and put a big number up,” head coach Bill Jackson said.

Put a big number up they did in a 9-1 rout that gave them a 7-1 record in the conference and a 10-3-2 mark overall.

Leading the way was sophomore forward Alexis Henry, who nearly achieved a double hat trick in scoring an unreal five goals.

“Alexis was just hitting her shots, and she was getting a lot of them,” said Jackson. “Once that first one went in really early in the game, she wasn’t going to be denied.”

Sophomore striker Koralee Jenior had quite a game herself with two goals and three assists, while senior midfielder Bayley English had a goal and two assists. Even sophomore goalkeeper Abagail Roberts joined the goals parade when, after switching to midfielder midway through the second half, she launched the ball into the back of the net from about 40 yards out.

With two assists was sophomore defender Molly Wiles. Senior defender Chloe Guth dished out a single assist.

The stalemate with Central Catholic was an evenly matched, fast-paced game between two solid teams. In fact, the Crusaders sport the same exact overall record as Waterloo (10-3-2).

The Vikings turned a 1-0 halftime deficit into a 2-1 lead in the second half on goals by English and junior midfielder Julia Boyle, respectively.

“Julia scored off a rebound shot,” Jackson said. “The ball ricocheted off a defender right to her feet, and she did a good job of finishing.”

A defensive breakdown led to the visitors’ game-tying goal.

“The one player we couldn’t let loose got loose,” said the coach. “We controlled most of the game’s flow up front, so Central Catholic wasn’t getting a lot of attacks. Everything they had was off a counter. We got caught twice with our hands in the cookie jar, and it burned us both times. But we’ll fix it, we’ll correct it.”

With an assist apiece were Henry and Jenior. Roberts made seven saves.