By By DON EDEN / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Paw Paw's duo of senior Ashley Leduc and junior Caroline Rice was too formidable as they led the Redskins to a 5-2 conquest of Niles (5-8-1) Saturday in girls' varsity soccer.
The pair had 18 of the 22 shots directed at junior Viking keeper Autumn Lucero with Leduc achieving a hat trick (3 goals) and Rice crossing the line once.
"That is about normal with Leduc and Rice taking most of our shots but our sweeper (junior Abby Congdon) is a good leader for us," explained first year Paw Paw coach Brian Clements. "This is one of the best games of the year except for a couple of mental errors on defense."
The wind was in favor of Paw Paw (8-7) in the first half as they controlled play with shots (14-4) and Lucero kept them scoreless until Leduc redirected a nice pass from junior Nicole Crafts into the net with 28:41 showing on the scoreboard.
Junior Meagan Horn tied the score three minutes later as she connected on a left foot shot scramble in front of the net but Rice gave the visitors the lead for good at 36:37 when she dribbled from midfield and sent a shot over Lucero's reach.
"We played tough after starting off flat footed and Meagan (Horn) does a nice job of taking advantage of getting the ball into the net," Niles coach Jo Schau noted. "It was our third tough game of the week after playing both Portage schools earlier and maybe we didn't have much left."
Leduc scored her middle goal just under three minutes into the second stanza when she capitalized on a drop from Lucero but Horn again answered by blowing a 10 yard low shot for a goal with three defenders nearby at the 44:14 mark.
The Vikings had three chances to score in the next 10 minutes as two corner kicks found their way in front of the net but neither time Niles could gain control and Horn hit the far post off a third corner, which the wind almost assisted.
"It would have been nice to tie or take advantage when we had our opportunities but things just didn't fall our way which is unfortunate in our seniors last home game," Schau said. "There was such a scramble in front off those two corners that I could not see the ball with everybody in there."
Paw Paw scored both of their final two markers off successful corner kicks as sophomore Brittany Neudeck and Leduc finished the scoring. Rice now has 18 goals for the year and Leduc is now three behind after her trio of tallies.
"This team struggled early in the year but everyone is starting to step up with proper runs and things are starting to come together," Clements commented. "We are looking forward to the future."
The Niles junior varsity showed some promise for the future as they shutout Paw Paw 3-0 with freshmen Katrina Gard and Lacey Stanage each scoring a goal along with junior Lindsey Fulk.
Sophomore Catherine Butler was the keeper in the victory.
Niles will travel to conference rival Lakeshore today for continuation of the Big 16 Conference Tournament..
Paw Paw…5
Niles…2
Halftime Score
Paw Paw 2, Niles 1
First Half
Ashley Leduc (PP) Nicole Crafts (assist) 29th minute
Meagan Horn (N) 32nd minute
Caroline Rice (PP) Leduc (assist) 37th minute
Shots Niles 4, Paw Paw 14
Saves Autumn Lucero (N) 8, Courtney Lewis 1
Corner kicks Niles 0, Paw Paw 1
Second Half
Leduc (PP) 42nd minute
Horn (N) 44th minute
Brittany Neudeck (PP) 62nd minute
Leduc (PP) 65th minute
Shots Niles 10 (14), Paw Paw 8 (22)
Saves Lucero (N) 2 (10), Lewis (PP) 6 (7)
Corner kicks Niles 3, Paw Paw 4 (5)