Hoover Girls' Home

North Canton 0, Hudson 0

The first day of school was still 12 hours away for Hoover students and just completed for Hudson, but the varsity girls soccer teams had already scored A's for their hard play and fast footwork against each other at Lavelli Stadium.

However, the visiting Lady Vikings had to settle for a scoreless tie on a cool evening with a mild breeze blowing across the field.

Both teams had to overcome season-opening jitters, unable to muster a first strike until Hudson finally took a shot with nearly five minutes off the clock. Hoover would test the Explorers two minutes later with a shot going wide of the net.

The first indication of many exciting offensive moments to come this season came with 29:30 left in the first half. Alexa Boyle passed the ball to Maddy Helterbran who lofted it to sister Gabby for a powerful header into the hands of the goalie. It was one of a less-than-handful-of-shots taken by Hoover with only two on goal in the game.

Hudson fired off a barrage of nearly 20 shots with five being saved by Hoover goalie Marisa Cotsmire, including a rocket aimed directly at the middle of the net late in the game.

No doubt, the Hudson players dominated touches in the first half, but Hoover picked up the pace after half-time, culminating with a flurry of passes inside the box with 12 minutes left. The only component of the game moving slowly was the welcome message crawling at a snail's pace across the scoreboard.

Hoover fans shared a sigh of relief with 13 minutes on the clock when a ref's judgment call overlooked questionable contact initiated by a Lady Viking inside Hudson's box. Time ran out as Cotsmire, Haley LaFever, Carley Joliat, Candace Riley and Meghan Green turned back repeated attacks.

The coaches did not hesitate using the team's bench strength, substituting often and showing off the team's inherent depth of talent. It was apparent that tapping the team's breadth of skills gave needed rest to the starters, while providing valuable experience and an instant boost in confidence to the replacements.