Norwalk finds needed-scoring in win
Sep. 25—NORWALK — Still searching.
But as the Norwalk girls soccer team continues to try and find ways to score, the Truckers also keep winning.
Norwalk controlled a 5-2 win over visiting Vermilion on Saturday in a non-league match at Contractors Stadium. It also served as senior recognition day for the program at the Warren C. Whitney Complex.
With the win, Norwalk improved to 7-4 overall. The Truckers have a total of 11 seniors in the program, including Joscey Thomas, who scored a pair of goals with an assist.
"It was great to get all our seniors on the field and contributing," Norwalk head coach Michelle Sandor said. "That was a great reason to be celebrating today.
"Vermilion has a decent program with a couple really good attackers, so you never know when they are going to score and what you're going to see against them. It was a good win for us."
Also scoring for Norwalk was senior Hannah Steffanni, sophomore Abby Koenig and sophomore Alexys Daniels. Senior Summer Moehlman had two assists, and sophomore goalkeeper Lilly Farmer made six saves.
Much of this season has been about finding consistent scoring for the Truckers. Norwalk graduated Nyah Daniels from the past four seasons. Daniels, now at NCAA Division II Ohio Dominican University, scored 144 goals for Norwalk — the fourth-most in Ohio high school history.
Norwalk is averaging 2.6 goals per game this season. That number is down from 3.8 per game in 2021 and 4.3 per game in 2020.
"We have a lot of players who can shoot," Sandor said. "We've had to learn how to score without Nyah, and that's taken some time. It's something we still have to work on every day in practice. It's something we have to continue to improve on.
"We're great at possessing the ball and we're great at defending, but it's the scoring that has been a struggle for us."
Sandor said Koenig, who has scored six goals this season, is starting to grow into a consistent scoring threat. Seniors Thomas and Steffanni also each have six goals this season for the Truckers.
"Abby has been a great offensive threat for us," she said. "She has definitely stepped up. Her intensity on every play is unmatched, so you can't beat having that constant threat on the field."
Norwalk is 5-1 in SBC Lake Division play entering Monday's league match at Clyde.
The Truckers — who are 42-2-2 in in five plus seasons in the SBC Lake — lost 1-0 at Perkins (7-1-1, 5-0) on Sept. 14. The rematch is slated for Oct. 3 in Norwalk.
"I think we have played great overall except for when we played at Perkins," Sandor said. "We're excited to see them again at our place and hopefully play a better match against them.
"Regardless of the outcome, I want us to play better against them and see how we match up," she added. "That's a big one for us obviously as far as the league. After that, we look forward to the tournament, which is always a tough bracket. It all kinds of depends on our draw, because there are so many great teams in there."
