Sally Dempsey scored her second goal in as many games to lead North to a 1-0 Western Reserve Conference win at Brush on Tuesday.
With the win, the Rangers won back-to-back games for the first time since the 2019 season.
“They were pretty happy,” said North coach Rick Sirl. “It was nice. I think they’re starting to see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.”
Dempsey’s second-half goal came off an assist from Brennen Herbert, who also assisted on Dempsey’s goal in a 2-0 win over Normandy on Saturday.
“That seems to be our go-to,” Sirl said. “Brennen has all of Sally’s assists right now. She kind of worked the ball up the middle and cut back to the top of the box. It was nice to see.”
Herbert and Dempsey have worked well together this season and their rapport on the field continues to grow.
“Sally is great and super aware of people and open space,” Herbert said. “I think the key to our success as a duo is moving together and communicating where we want the ball. Sally has a great foot for the ball and makes it easy to assist her.”
With a 1-0 advantage, North’s defense held off the Arcs the rest of the way.
“Sophomore Morgan Bell really holds things down in the middle,” Sirl said of the defense. “We got a lot of help from Kailey Lesler-Harrold, who also is a sophomore and a starter this year, and our other back is a freshman, Brynn Smith, so we have a pretty young defensive line. We kind of run a 3-2-3-2, so we kind of have the pivots up front there and that’s another freshman and a junior but they did some good work back there.”
North opened the season with a 10-1 loss to defending Division III state champion Kirtland and a 3-0 setback to Perry.
Now, with back-to-back wins, the Rangers have an opportunity to push their record above .500 for the first time since the 2015 season.
“It feels great to be a part of something that doesn’t happen often,” Herbert said. “We’ve been working hard to bring home some wins for the team and our seniors. I think it’s super exciting for the team and opens our eyes to what we are capable of.”
North hosts Lakeside on Saturday. The two teams tied in 2020 and North won, 2-0, back in 2019.
“I think our biggest thing is to keep playing our system and our game,” Herbert said. “We have to keep sticking together and having each other’s backs no matter what. Every person on the team has a strong suit and we just have to keep working to put them together.”
