Girls soccer stays alive in NBC with win over Eastwood

Ainsley Heckman battles for possession of the ball with an Oak Harbor player. / Pride of the Panthers

By JEREMY SCHNEIDER

IMA SPORTS

This year’s Maumee girls soccer team is the epitome of the old saying, They don’t care how you do it, just that you do it.

The Panthers might not play a “pretty” style of soccer, but they’re getting the results. Last week, the Panthers took down Northern Buckeye Conference rival Eastwood, 2-1.

Maumee and the Eagles were two of the three schools that shared last year’s NBC title.

“The win over Eastwood meant a lot,” Maumee coach Jeremiah McNutt said. “It showed them the season isn’t over yet. We have a lot of soccer still to play.”

The Panthers are now 3-5-2 overall and 2-1-1 in the NBC. They’re tied with Eastwood at third in the conference standings, behind Genoa (3-2), Lake (2-0-2) and Oak Harbor (2-0-2).

Evelyn Boyett put in two first-half goals to lead Maumee against Eastwood. The senior now leads the team with five goals.

For McNutt, the biggest takeaway from the win was, the Panthers style of play does work.

“It might not be the prettiest this year, but it works for us,” he said. “Teams think they are out-playing us because they took twenty shots from 30-yards out, but that plays right into our hands. We play solid defense, then catch them when they push too hard and are out of position.”

The Panthers have two more NBC games left on the schedule, at Otsego and Lake. McNutt said he’s run every possible scenario in his head and on paper, and his team still has a shot at defending its title.

He hasn’t said that to his players just yet, though.

“We need to win the next game first against Otsego,” he said. “That's what I'm going to tell the girls at the next practice. After that we need to do our part and hope others do theirs.”

Photo courtesy of Pride of the Panthers

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