Coventry High School’s Sara Kinsinger (No. 8) and Our Lady of the Elms High School’s Morgan Murray (No. 20) battle for possession of a loose ball during the Lady Comets 2-0 win over the Lady Panthers Aug. 23.

Coventry’s Kirsten Buckland (No. 2) gets stuffed by a pair of Elms defenders as she tries to cut around for a shot on goal.

Coventry High School sweeper Mandy Milhoan (No. 5) tracks down a errant long ball played by an Our Lady of the Elms High School player during the Lady Comets 2-0 win over the Lady Panthers Aug. 23.

Coventry’s Megan Mills (No. 9) dribbles upfield as Lady Panther Katya Lambo (No. 15) defender tracks her down.

Coventry’s Kirsten Buckland (No. 2) looks to trap a teammate’s chip deep in Elms territory as a Lady Panther defender closes in.

Late first-half goal gives Coventry edge

The Lady Comets’ Sara Kinsinger (No. 8) tries to dribble past the Elms’ Morgan Murray (No. 20) as Murray puts pressure in Coventry’s defensive third.

Coventry’s Paige Carlin (No. 3) gets set to volley a pass up front as the Elms’ Marissa Ward (No. 14) looks on.

The Elms’ Katya Lambo (No. 15) is shown stuffing a clear attempt by Coventry’s Marijana Martinovic (No. 12).

Coventry’s Megan Mills (No. 9) traps a throw in from a teammate.

Photos: Mike D’Agruma

“How do you coach a hit crossbar? How do you coach 2 inches to the left instead of 2 inches to the right?”

Those are phrases that have been uttered by frustrated high school soccer coaches after close losses to teams that managed to be just a little better in one crucial aspect of the game.

That’s the part of the game where you can successfully dominate your opponent from endline to endline and have it be completely meaningless if you can’t find a way to dominate to the roughly 72 square feet of grass between a goalie and the back of the net.

That’s the part of the game known as finishing.

Despite creating a number of short field counterattacks with aggressive play up top, dominating possession for most of the game and outshooting Coventry High School 17-11 (10-5 in the first half) while facing an offsides trap that caught them 11 times, the Our Lady of the Elms High School Lady Panthers fell to the Lady Comets 2-0 in large part because they struggled to execute in one crucial aspect — the part of the game known as finishing.

“As far as finishing, you can teach a lot of things, but finishing is something — you have to be a finisher, you got to be a scorer,” Elms assistant coach Jim Chappell said.

Well-placed Katie Pawlicki free kicks and crosses that Lady Panthers barely missed getting a foot or head on, backdoor passes resulting in shots straight at the keeper and open shots 6 yards out that went too far left or right — the Elms offense was opportunistic in creating a number of scoring opportunities, but not fortunate enough when trying to finish them.

For its part, the Lady Comets had a difficult time trying to produce meaningful shots on goal as well, though it was mostly due to attackers trying to play with more finesse in the goal box. Of the five scoring chances Coventry managed in the first half, only two came from beyond the six.

However, the Lady Comets made theirs count when it seemed to matter most. Sophomore Paige Carlin scored Coventry’s first goal with 43 seconds left in the first half, racing past Elms defenders and finishing from long range after fellow sophomore Sara Kinsinger initiated a quick counterattack after a short goal kick.

Carlin would score again in the game’s 68th minute after poking in a return pass from Kirsten Buckland during a scramble in front of the Elms net. The goal proved necessary in a second-half that quickly became a possession stalemate, with both teams tightening up on defense and failing to yield meaningful scoring opportunities for the half’s first 28 minutes.

“Mandy [Milhoan] is leading everything [on defense],” Coventry assistant coach Kevin Sisak said. “Shelby [Michner]’s doing a great job in the back, too — Sara [Kinsinger] and Lana [Hoffert]. They really step it up. Whatever is back there is cleared.”

For that Lady Comets defense, the game’s final whistle represented (through Aug. 26) 160 minutes of shutout soccer. As for the Lady Panthers offense trying to score against it, Chappell said he was happy with the way it fought to create scoring chances and was optimistic it would gel and start putting them in as the season progressed.

“I thought they played well,” Chappell said. “I think this is a game that hurts — you want to win all you can win. These are the ones if you don’t win, they bug you a little during the season.”

The Elms will next play away against Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy tonight, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m.