Ross sophomore Ashtyn Schneider fires a shot on goal during Ross 3-2 win over Sandusky Perkins.
FREMONT — The Ross girls soccer team came one outstretched hand away from letting a win slip between its fingers Monday night.
With 10 seconds remaining and Ross clinging to a one-goal lead, goalkeeper Hailey Taylor was in full-on desperation mode. That’s when a Sandusky Perkins shot came hurtling toward the net and Taylor threw an arm out and got her mitt on the would-be tying goal.
Crisis averted. Game over, 3-2.
“Anything to get the ball at that point,” Taylor said. “Anything. Jump on somebody if I have to. If I can throw my body on it and it stops, good. If I take it off the head, good.”
Taylor’s stop clinched a win that, only a few minutes earlier, looked as though it was destined for a disappointing tie.
Ross took a 2-0 lead in the first half only to see Perkins come back and tie the game. The Pirates controlled much of the play in the second half – just as Ross did in the first – but sophomore Ashtyn Schneider had the answer.
Taking a nice lead pass from Addison Burmeister, Schneider broke in past a defender and picked the corner of the net to give Ross the lead with 2:52 to play.
“Addie had the ball and I knew she would kick it, I was scared the goalie would come up, but thank goodness she did not,” Schneider said. “(I’m thinking) just keep it on the ground and keep it in the corner. Our team deserved the win.”
Schneider got her team on the board in the first half, scoring the season’s first goal less than five minutes in when her shot trickled through Perkins goalkeeper, Allie Schuster.
“When she learns and understands, really, how quick she is, I think it’s really going to get together,” coach Phil Collison said of Schneider. “I think her speed certainly helps her and, with her skill, when she really gets to trust herself, she’ll get a lot more.”
Senior Victoria Miller added to the Lady Giant lead with 2:05 remaining in the first half. Miller’s goal came off a nice assist from Elizabeth Bloom. The Lady Giants went into halftime having controlled the majority of the first half in time of possession and outshot the Pirates 9-7.
Perkins, however, flipped the script on Ross and took control of the second half, with two goals from Olivia Howard who tied the game with nine minutes to play, setting the stage for the late heroics from Schneider and Taylor.
“We worked really hard. I loved what I saw,” Miller said. “We communicated and we passed the ball a lot more. We won, so we did something right.”
The season-opening victory gets Ross’ year started off on the right foot, but the Lady Giants (1-0) return to action Wednesday at Port Clinton at 7 p.m.