Mentor vs. Madison girls soccer: Cardinals, Blue Streaks battle to 2-2 stalemate
Aug. 12—How the sun that can obstruct matches this time of year at Madison could be construed Aug. 12 following the Blue Streaks' encounter with visiting Mentor as part of "Friday Night Futbol" depended on the perspective.
For the hosts, it shone brightly thanks to a laudable fightback from a two-goal deficit to salvage a positive result.
For the Cardinals, they might view that sun — and result — as harsh, and understandably so.
Mentor got first-half strikes from Mia Smaretsky and Daniela Ortiz, but Madison responded with a lifeline before halftime from Reese Meister and a late equalizer from Sammi Kistler as the sides battled to a 2-2 draw.
The Cardinals (0-0-1), with a youthful starting 11, generated 11 corners and nine shots on target.
So when Coach Ken Skilton asked his captains and assistants postmatch if they had anything to add following his postmatch chat, there really wasn't. Because they already knew.
"They're working really hard," Skilton said. "That's all I can ask. They're hanging their heads and a little disappointed. But they played really hard. Sometimes, soccer doesn't always go your way. We came really close on a lot of those set pieces on the corners, and we came really close on the attacks. We had opportunities, but just missed them.
"Those are things we're going to work on. That was on the practice plan for tomorrow anyway. Early in the year, two weeks in, we've got all kinds of things to still work on. They're just going to keep getting better."
Smaretsky grabbed the opener for Mentor in the 25th minute, latching onto a blocked shot in the box and slotting a strike near post.
Ortiz pushed the advantage to 2-0 in the 32nd, with a heady run to the left post to clean up an initial Makenzie Stuckert look from the right side of the box that was turned away.
Madison (0-0-1) hit the proverbial comeback trail from there.
Meister, who was dangerous throughout the opening 40 with her pace and 1v1 skill, pulled the Blue Streaks within 2-1 with 18 seconds left before halftime. The sophomore striker played ambitious touches through midfield, to the edge of the offensive third and unleashed a lovely outswinger far post for the first of what should be many goals for the budding attacker in 2022.
Stuckert was unlucky in the 60th on a run and right-footed strike that was stymied well by Madison goalkeeper Taylor MacAdam.
The Blue Streaks hung around despite the Cardinals being the better attacking side for large stretches and maximized a late set piece.
In the aftermath of a corner in the 78th, Sammi Kistler got a touch in the box for the equalizer, and 2-2 is where it stayed.
"I told the girls after the game, all last season we had a lot of great moments, but I don't think I ever jumped," Madison coach Chad Butler said. "Twice in this game, I did in excitement. And it's just seeing, facing the truth, that we're a super-young team and watching them grow. Being two down to a team like Mentor on your first game, you don't come back from that. And we did, so that's super exciting."
