Valley Sports ReportNORWICH — Waverly rode three first-half goals to a season-opening, 3-1, win over Norwich here Wednesday night in STAC girls soccer action.
The Wolverines had to adjust their game to a smaller grass field, said coach Tara Hogan.
“This is the first time we’ve been on grass in a while,” said Hogan. “Their field is significantly smaller than what we’re used to playing on, so we definitely needed and adjustment period but we — coach Scott Berent and myself — really felt like things clicked into place relatively quickly.
“The girls were forced to work in smaller spaces and work hard to find outside options away from pressure,” noted Hogan. “We felt like they did a really good job with that.
“The girls had a lot of consecutive passes made,” she added. “We tried a lot of players in a lot of positions and we’re still trying to find what works best but the good news is, we have options. “
Freshman Gianna Soprano, off a feed from sophomore Ryleigh Judson, scored her first varsity goal to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.
Junior Kaitlyn Sutton, who scored nine goals at Athens as a freshman but sat out last year after a transfer, scored her first goal for Waverly, off an assist from senior Kiley Stillman, to make it 2-0.
The Wolverines saw their lead grow to 3-0 on a Norwich own-goal late in the first half.
The Purple Tornadoes got on the board late in the game on a penalty kick by Isabella Dilorio.
Hogan pointed out the play of several of her players.
“Freshman Kendall Rockwell is seeing substantial time as the center-defender with the help of veteran sophomore Makenzie Olmsted, and freshman newcomer Lilly Boothby-Schoonover fell into step quickly and played her position well,” she said.
“It was great to see senior Addison Westbrook back on the field after being injured all last season, and Haley Larrabee was a consistent presence who is really getting to show off her speed on the field,” noted Hogan.
“It was also great to see junior Kait Sutton finding her own on the field as well,” continued Hogan. “Newcomer Gianna Soprano brought a great amount of energy to the forward line that we need to see.
“We are happy with this start,” she added.
Waverly had a 27-4 advantage in shots-on-goal, and a 7-1 edge in corner kicks.
Junior Claire Clonch had five goals in net for Waverly, and freshman Addison Temple added two.
Waverly returns to action this weekend at the Hall of Fame Tournament, playing Central Valley Academy Friday night at Ilion High School, and playing at Shaker Heights on Saturday.
