Lake stays unbeaten with 13-10 win over Northwest; Blue Streaks see mixed results in other sports

Lake began the season 5-0 on the strength of explosive offensive and special teams play, averaging 39.4 points per contest.

The Blue Streaks remained undefeated thanks to defense as Lake topped visiting Northwest 13-10 in nonconference action Sept. 26.

Zach Novak dove into the end zone to cap a 27-yard run with 5:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Blue Streaks, who had been trailing 10-7, failed to make the PAT, leaving the door open for Northwest to potentially tie the game with a field goal.

Lake’s Kyle Hammer and Grady Widner stopped Northwest’s Conner Stephenson on a fourth-and-2 play from the Indians’ 39, giving Lake the ball back with 3:39 remaining.

Lake’s Davis Matson then appeared to score on a 26-yard run with 2:43 left, but the touchdown was called back for holding. Each team was flagged 13 times for 115 yards in the game.

Northwest had another chance after forcing Lake to punt with 1:41 left. Starting from their own 15-yard line, the Indians had about 90 seconds to move into field goal range.

Not so fast — Chase Fuller intercepted Brayden Venables’ pass at the 47 and returned it 27 yards to the 20. Out of timeouts, Northwest (3-2) could only watch as Lake’s Alex Quior took a pair of knees from the victory formation to seal the win for the Blue Streaks (6-0).

Novak also caught a 71-yard touchdown from Quior with 3:50 left in the second quarter. He finished with two receptions for 80 yards and six carries for 50. Quior went 8-of-15 for 137 yards and ran 12 times for 78. Matson led all rushers with 81 yards on 23 carries.

Cross country

Lake competed at the Stark County Cross Country Championships, hosted by GlenOak. Both the boys and girls teams finished eighth overall. Minerva won the boys’ title, while Jackson took the girls’ crown.

Freshman Heidi Hart placed 32nd in 21:26.57 to lead the Blue Streaks. Juniors Ava Volpe and Ava Potashnik finished 48th and 54th, while senior Madeline Utz and junior Ella Sainato capped the scoring in 57th and 58th. Lake finished fifth among Division I and II schools.

On the boys’ side, sophomore Brycen Vensel led Lake in 27th place at 17:22.15. Junior Nolan Brasko placed 43rd, sophomore Brady Norcia was 47th, sophomore Mason DeBois finished 50th and sophomore Nathaniel Cheronis rounded out the scoring in 67th.

Volleyball

Lake split a pair of Federal League matches.

On Sept. 23, the Blue Streaks swept host Green 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-23). Senior Peyton Fritz (13) and junior Ayla Filisky (11) combined for 24 of Lake’s 37 kills. Filisky also scored 12 points and had three aces, while senior Olivia Nehlen added 10 points.

Senior Violet Seaman led the team with 13 digs, while Nehlen had 12. Seniors Michaela Slayman and Sydney Hedrick registered 18 and 15 assists, respectively. Green fell to 7-7, 3-5.

Riding that win, Lake hosted league leader Jackson, ranked No. 8 in the Division I state poll. Despite injuries, the Blue Streaks hung close in the first set but were swept 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-11). Fritz had eight kills, while Slayman and Hedrick each dished nine assists. Adella Coblentz, Hedrick, Filisky and Nehlen each recorded four digs.

Lake moved to 9-8 overall and 4-5 in the Federal League.

Girls soccer

Lake split two matches, defeating visiting Howland 8-3 on Sept. 22 and losing to Jackson 8-2 on Sept. 24.

Against Howland, the Blue Streaks led 5-1 at halftime. Junior Kya Brinton had four goals and two assists. Juniors April Fockler (goal, three assists) and Jenna Anderson (goal) also scored, along with freshmen Anais Gerbetz (goal, assist) and Maggie Novak (goal).

Two days later at Jackson, the match was tied 1-1 at halftime before the Polar Bears (6-5-1, 4-0) exploded for seven second-half goals. Fockler and Brinton each scored unassisted goals for Lake (8-6, 0-4).

Boys soccer

Lake dropped back-to-back 2-1 home matches.

Against Jackson (2-4-3, 2-0-2), sophomore Hunter Neiss scored Lake’s lone goal.