EAST MANATEE — She cranked the ball with her left foot. It traveled high over the goalkeeper’s hands. Then, the noise came. Clang! Saint Stephen’s Hannah Howell’s second half blast rattled off the crossbar inches away from a hat trick.
Her two goals were enough to lead the visiting Falcons past Out-of-Door Academy 5-1 in Tuesday’s Class 2A-11 girls soccer tilt.
Despite Howell’s strike pounding metal, the ball stayed inside the penalty area. A slew of green and white jerseys clashed for possession before the ball found Howell’s boot once more.
Except, her rebound attempt didn’t go the way she planned.
“I kicked it into one of my own players,” joked Howell.
Sixteen people arrived for the opening kickoff before swelling to about 50 at halftime.
The fans who showed up late missed St. Stephen’s first goal in the eighth minute.
Amy Ivin dribbled through the Thunder defense, drawing out ODA keeper Rachel Cannon. A quick pass fell to Howell who slotted home the shot.
“Basically, it was her goal,” said Howell, an eighth grader.
The Falcons (8-1-1, 6-0) have reeled off an eight-game unbeaten streak since an early season loss to Tampa Berkeley Prep.
St. Stephen’s runs with a squad that features only four upperclassmen. Ivin, a junior, said she tries to lead the younger players on the field, but with Howell things just click.
“Hannah is just a really good player, I always can find her,” said Ivin, who had a goal and two assists. “She just knows where to go.”
Falcons coach Bill Unzicker said he’s enjoyed the spark Howell has provided, too.
“She’s tough and she’s had to grind through it all when she’s playing club soccer,” Unzicker said.
Howell runs cross-country in the fall, and said her conditioning is already in place when soccer season starts.
“It allows me to play almost the whole game without getting tired,” Howell said.
The win also ended a perfect district season for the Falcons.
St. Stephen’s finishs the year with non-district affairs before postseason play begins in two weeks.
“We definitely wanted to have a good rhythm going into the postseason,” Unzicker said.
The Falcons had a quick turnaround match after shutting out Cardinal Mooney on Monday.
Meanwhile, ODA (3-5-2, 2-3-1) had not played since going on winter vacation.
And the rust was evident with the Thunder recording their first shot on goal 17 minutes into the first half.
“We lost a little bit of aggressiveness that we had going into the break,” Thunder coach Jamie Rubens said. “And, Saint Stephen’s makes us look out of shape.”
ODA’s lone goal came off a set piece. Senior Alyssa Goldman-Burr swung a cross to the far post where eighth-grader Melanie Mason freed herself to bang a header into the Falcon net.
St. Stephen’s also got two goals from Martine Miller.
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