The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Kirtland defender ascends in state semi
McIntosh’s goal helps put Hornets in state final
Macy McIntosh’s path to fixture at right back for Kirtland and state semifinal savior essentially played out in three acts.
Act I came on the training ground.
Act II came in a headliner of a match against a fellow News-Herald coverage area power.
And Act III will be a memory for the Hornets’ faithful long past 2020, her included.
As McIntosh and her side celebrated a 1-0 Division III state semifinal win Nov. 10 over Liberty-Benton at Avon, securing a third state championship match berth in four seasons for Kirtland, Coach Ed Bradac couldn’t help but reflect on the journey that got the junior from an underclassman reserve to regular starter and postseason hero.
“Macy is one of those amazing individuals that is just an athlete through and through,” Bra
“We’ve got to stay loud. We’ve got to play our game. We cannot fall into (Country Day’s) trap. We’ve got to play our game, which is possession and keep it wide — work the outsides through the middle.” — Kirtland soccer player Macy McIntosh
“And if you give her enough time, she’s going to adjust and just get better.
“At the beginning of this year, she doesn’t come in earning a starting position. When she comes in, those first few games we were like, ‘I don’t know.’ And as the season grew and continued, she just got better and better every game.”
What ultimately may have swayed Bradac — and McIntosh, for that matter — came in Kirtland’s lone setback of the fall to date, a 1-0 loss at West Geauga on Sept. 16.
With the Wolverines typically operating in a 4-3-3 formation, that meant McIntosh was going to see a lot of West G striker Frankee Flesher. The standout sophomore, who finished with 23 goals for a D-II regional-qualifying side, is widely regarded as one of this area’s most pacey attackers, especially in an outside striker role.
“I think her breakout moment for us was playing against West Geauga,” Bradac said. “And she said, ‘Coach, Frankee Flesher is fast. But I beat her twice.’ So the confidence that she has is amazing.”
McIntosh herself could sense a change at that moment as well.
“Yeah, I definitely settled in then,” McIntosh said. “I knew my role, and I was finally able to fulfill it. I kept on Frankee, a speedy one. I had her. My touch was good. Everything went into place after that. I got more confident. I was able to play wide more, and my teammates trust me more.”
Since that setback to the Wolverines, the Hornets are riding a 14-match unbeaten run into the D-III state final at 1 p.m. Nov. 13 against Cincinnati Country Day at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus. During that span, Kirtland has outscored its foes, 78-12, and recorded six clean sheets.
The Hornets, after the graduation of longtime fixtures Maya Zovko and Lidia Rodin, switched to a new formation to adapt to a personnel shift. That tactical look, with a desired element of wide play, was sharp in defeating Liberty-Benton and controlling possession effectively.
“We have a different formation,” McIntosh said. “We play only three in the back, and whoever is wide, they bring it down to the corner. Corners are a big option for what we looked at today — get a corner, play it in. It was a major difference.”
The difference on the scoreboard came from McIntosh, strictly from a position and prior track record standpoint an unlikely source.
Since McIntosh joined the side as a freshman in 2018, 21 different players had scored goals for Kirtland coming into the Liberty-Benton match. She was not one of those 21.
In fact, in three seasons, her one appearance on the scoresheet was a grand total of one assist during a regular-season match this season.
Then came the 33rd minute at Avon. Giuliana Vladic’s corner kick was headed high and off the crossbar by Aria Evans-Roskos, leaving a sitter on the edge of the six as McIntosh barged in to knee it into the back of the net.
McIntosh noted when asked it was her first goal at any level of organized soccer.
“I started soccer freshman year, and I’ve always been on defense,” McIntosh said. “I had a chance. They finally put me in the box at practice this week. It finally got into the back of the net. I’m glad.”
Glad in more ways than one in all likelihood.
Glad to have earned a job. Glad to have found her confidence that day at West G. And glad to be a postseason hero, as her side eyes an elusive prize in Columbus.
“We’ve just got to be confident,” McIntosh said. “We’ve got to stay loud. We’ve got to play our game. We cannot fall into (Country Day’s) trap. We’ve got to play our game, which is possession and keep it wide — work the outsides through the middle.”