BAY VILLAGE — Two of Westlake’s starting defenders were ill most of Wednesday.
It didn’t show, but it didn’t help.
Despite an eye-opening performance by Westlake goalkeeper Stephanie Poeppelman and the four defenders in front of her, soccer power Strongsville eliminated the Demons, 2-0, in a Division I regional semifinal at Bay High’s Memorial Stadium.
It took an outstanding offensive show by senior forward Danielle Hubka for the Mustangs to advance to a noon Saturday regional final at Ashland Soccer Stadium. The opponent will be either Sylvania Northview or Lexington, who clashed in a Wednesday night semifinal, also in Ashland.
With a Saturday victory, Strongsville (19-1-1) will advance to the Final Four for the eighth time in 11 seasons. The Mustangs won state championships in 1998, 2002 and ’05.
Poeppelman was peppered with 19 Strongsville shots, 13 on goal. She made a dozen saves, many of them difficult, two within seconds when the Mustangs got off three rapid-fire shots in 69th minute. The third shot sailed over the Demons’ crossbar.
“When we got here, we were all of the mindset that we had to come out and win,” said Poeppelman, a sophomore. “No matter what, we were going to leave it all on the field and that’s what we did. We couldn’t have asked for more except maybe a couple goals. We came out and played our game. It just didn’t turn out the way we hoped.”
The Mustangs’ Hubka put on a foot-skills clinic to set up the first goal. Working in the right corner near the goal line, Hubka worked her way deftly around a Westlake defender, moved toward the center of the Demons’ box and made a crossing pass to Katie Peterlin, who scored in the 35th minute.
Hubka nailed the second goal, rifling a shot past the right goalpost with an assist from Megan Giesen in the 61st minute. Hubka is thought by many to have a legitimate shot at scholastic All-American honors this season.
Strongsville dominated the statistics and the score might have been more lopsided if not for the stellar work of Demons defenders Megan O’Neill, Sarah Stachowiak, Victoria Evans and Beth Maroney.
“We knew that (the Mustangs) had two nationally ranked players and that we’d have to double up on Hubka and we’d have to drop back faster,” said O’Neill. “We knew we’d have to keep with our marks as much as we possibly could. I feel it was anybody’s game. We had equal opportunities. They just capitalized more, I guess.”
O’Neill and Stachowiak had been ill intermittently throughout the day, said Demons coach Scott Jones, whose team finished the season at 16-3-1.
“O’Neill and Stachowiak sucked it up and played as hard as they could,” Jones said. “Our team did a great job. There’s a reason why (Hubka’s) going to be an All-American this year. She was the difference in the game. She split us down there (on Peterlin’s goal). We had her penned in. It wasn’t our mistake. It was just her being her.”
Contact Bob Daniels at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
Strongsville 2, Westlake 0
GOALS: (S) Katie Peterlin (35th minute), Danielle Hubka (61st minute).
ASSISTS: (S) Hubka, Megan Giesen.
SHOTS: Strongsville 19, Westlake 6.
SHOTS ON GOAL: Strongsville 13, Westlake 0.
SAVES: (S) Nicole Wood 1, (W) Stephanie Poeppelman 12.
CORNER KICKS: Strongsville 6, Westlake 1.
GOAL KICKS: Strongsville 6, Westlake 9.
OFFSIDE: Strongsville 1.
HAND BALLS: Strongsville 1.
FOULS: Strongsville 7, Westlake 12.
CARDS: None.
HALFTIME: Strongsville, 1-0.

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