The North Royalton Girls Varsity Soccer team has reached one goal this season and have their eyes set on another.
The Girls team is champions of the National Division of the Suburban League. Back on October 12, the Lady Bears defeated Stow-Munroe Falls 2-1 to wrap up the Division Championship. It was the first outright Girls Soccer Championship for North Royalton in school history, although they shared the championship back in 2006.
Head Coach Pete Ragone had a good feeling that the Lady Bears would claim the Championship. “On the bus on the way to the Stow game it was very quiet. I knew they were focused. They played hard and did what they had to do. It was great that our team, especially the seniors, were able to experience this.”
There are seven seniors on this year’s Lady Bears soccer team. Coach Ragone says they all played a key role in bringing the National Division championship to North Royalton. “Their leadership, both on and off the field, their unity has spread throughout the whole team.”
Senior Bayley Miozzi agreed. “We are all like sisters. We’re just like a family. It was our goal at the beginning of the season (To win the Suburban League) and we made it happen.” I asked Bayley what it feels like to be Suburban League Champs. “Incredible. That’s putting it in the simplest of terms, incredible. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
Coach Ragone said, “This is a great group of seniors. It’s the most fun that I have had coaching a team in all my years. It really has been. It’s been a joy.”
Now, the so-called post-season begins. North Royalton is seeded second in the Parma Division One District.
“We’re seeded second behind Strongsville and rightfully so. They beat us in the regular season but there’s no doubt in my mind that we can beat them if we play again. Our team is on a mission,” said Ragone.
Bayley Miozzi says “I think we are going to do our very best. Win or lose, we want to stay together as a team. We want our season to be the very best that it can be.”
“I think everybody works to do their part really well” said Bayley. “We draw on each other. If we could go down a goal, we’d work to tie it up. We would work together to get over our hardship.”
Leading the Lady Bears offense is senior Keeley Malley, who scored both goals in the game against Stow-Munroe Falls to win the Suburban League Championship.
Defensively, Claire Novak and the backline have been able to keep the opponents off the scoreboard along with freshman goalkeeper Nicole Jones.
The Lady Bears end the regular season with a mark of 9-4-2.
By: Joe Jastrzemski
Contibuting Writer