ELYRIA — North Ridgeville’s Morgan Wade scored another hat trick Monday afternoon in the Rangers’ 5-3 non-conference victory over Elyria.
It wasn’t her first of the season, but she can’t remember how many she’s had. She does know that her third goal of the day, in the 71st minute, was her 21st of the season.
Wade, a senior co-captain, also knows that when the Rangers host their annual Senior Night game Wednesday, it will be her final soccer game ever.
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The reason? A torn ACL in her right knee not once, but twice. The first caused her to miss the 2011 season. The second, which occurred near the start of practice in August, is forcing her to give up the game.
But the injury did not appear to slow the speedster against Elyria (4-5-5). Her first two goals, in the 12th and 25th minutes, treated the Rangers to a 2-0 halftime lead. They led 3-0 after freshman Anna Chalkley hooked a shot into the Elyria net in the 41st minute and 4-1 on junior Summer Cape’s goal in the 50th minute.
Even then, Elyria wouldn’t go away. The Pioneers broke the shutout when sophomore Abbey Ramirez nailed a penalty kick in the 49th minute. This happened after North Ridgeville was called for a foul in the box.
And they threatened to catch up. With an assist by her senior sister Celeste Jones, freshman Darian Jones made it a 4-2 game with a goal in the 62nd minute. They cut the lead to a goal when Celeste Jones took control of a loose ball and scored in the 65th minute. But it was getting late and Wade completed her hat trick six minutes later.
“I tore my ACL last June (2011) and had surgery,” Wade, said. “I recovered and played all the way up to August of this year, and I tore it again. Since I tore it again, other things are going wrong, like my meniscus is getting torn and other things. I’m having surgery Friday.
“I’m missing the playoffs because the doctors said I can’t wait any longer,” she said.
“But I at least get to play my Senior Night game, which I’m excited about. I was going to play in college, but they don’t think my knee will last at that level of play. So I won’t be continuing.”
Rangers coach Bryan Asp said Wade was doing nothing unusual when she injured her knee the second time.
“She came into camp and a week into camp, she re-tore her ACL,” said Asp, whose Rangers improved to 7-6-1. “It was just a fluke, running after a ball and it just went. The same knee. She said she was completely surprised it was the ACL, because it didn’t feel anything like the other one.”
Asp also said the injury doesn’t appear to have affected her play.
“You can see what she brings,” he said. “She is our workhorse and sometimes you can’t even drag her off the field. So you have to give her kudos. She’s a real hard worker and as you saw, she had three goals this afternoon.”
Elyria coach Venera Ilievski said she thought the Pioneers could get the tying goal and possibly take the lead.
“But we had four games last week and they’re tired,” she said. “We played Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, and now this is another game. It’s harder when you’re running in the mud. But kudos to North Ridgeville. They didn’t stop.”
Elyria can win its Northeast Ohio Conference division title when it hosts Mayfield at its annual Senior Night game.
“Hopefully, we’ll pull it off and make something happen for Elyria High girls soccer,” Ilievski said.
North Ridgeville 5, Elyria 3
- GOALS: (NR) Morgan Wade 3 (12th, 25th, 71st minutes), Anna Chalkley (41st minute), Summer Cape (50th minute); (E) Abbey Ramirez, pk (49th minute), Darian Jones (62nd minute), Celeste Jones (65th minute).
- ASSISTS: (NR) Wade. (E) Celeste Jones.
- SHOTS: North Ridgeville 20, Elyria 15.
- SHOTS ON FRAME: North Ridgeville 15, Elyria 9.
- SAVES: (NR) Samantha Wiles 6; (E) Jami Wright 10.
- GOAL KICKS: North Ridgeville 5, Elyria 17.
- CORNER KICKS: North Ridgeville 7, Elyria 5.
- OFFSIDE: Elyria 5.
- HANDBALLS: North Ridgeville 1.
- FOULS: North Ridgeville 6, Elyria 5.
- CARDS: None.
- HALF: North Ridgeville, 2-0
Contact Bob Daniels at 329-7135 or soccer@bobdaniels.info.
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