Staff photo / Joel Whetzel Lady Clippers forward Ella Dota dribbles towards the center of the field Monday evening at Struthers High School. Dota scored the lone goal for the Clippers in a 1-1 tie.

STRUTHERS — Trailing by a goal at halftime, Struthers decided to shake things up.

Looking for some sort of spark, Wildcats head coach Ron Bartholomew shifted his squad back into its old formation and swapped goalies in hopes of generating some offense and momentum.

The move paid off, as the Wildcats netted a second-half goal to salvage a 1-1 nonconference draw which they nearly won at the buzzer.

“We went to a different lineup. I had a new goalie in to start the game off, and we went back to our old formation, and it seemed to give us a little lift,” Bartholomew said. “We’re playing with a lot of inexperienced players, and once we figured out what Columbiana was trying to do, we were able to match up pretty well.”

The Clippers (3-1-1) were sluggish out of the gate, allowing Struthers (1-0-1) to control possession and pace early on. As the first half wore on, though, the Clippers gained steam and began pressuring the Wildcat defense.

At the 12:22 mark, Columbiana broke through. Ella Dota was able to dribble her way through traffic and, while battling a Struthers defender, sent the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to put the Clippers up 1-0.

“I felt like we were asleep for (a while),” Columbiana coach Jason Janis said. “I feel like it took us most of the first half to wake up, to be honest. But I could tell we were picking up the momentum as the half moved along, and that’s what I told the girls at halftime, was to keep building on that momentum.”

The Clippers nearly did it. Just 30 seconds out of the intermission, Dota sent another shot on goal which would have given Columbiana a two-goal advantage. However, Struthers junior Ava Croyle — who was inserted into goal at halftime — collected the shot to end the threat.

That seemed to wake the Wildcats up, however, as Struthers responded with a pair of close misses in rapid succession.

Soon after, the pressure was enough. Managing to extend its possession and keep heavy pressure in the box, the Wildcats evened things up after Jolene Pritts collected a loose ball and landed her shot in the right side of the goal.

“It’s just like practice — she always comes through,” Bartholomew said of Pritts. “That’s her first high school goal, and I’m proud of her.”

After that deadlocking score, Columbiana began putting the pressure back on Struthers, placing a bevy of shots on goal down the stretch of the second half. However, Croyle came up with a handful of critical saves, and Struthers’ defense was able to stymie other efforts.

“Ava is a big-time leader for us,” Bartholomew said. “She’s a captain for a reason, and when she stepped on the field, she played center defense for a while. She adds a lot of electricity and meanness, and she really stepped up in the box.”

Janis was pleased to see his squad respond after allowing the Wildcats to get back into the mix.

“We’ve been kind of on the girls throughout the season that there are going to be times when adversity hits, and it’s what you do when the adversity hits that determines what kind of team you are,” he said. “We kept fighting, and I’m proud of them for that.”

Struthers nearly won it late. After taking possession after a foul in the game’s final seconds, Hailey Anglin sent a final shot on goal with some velocity, but Columbiana goalkeeper Olivia Lewis deftly sent the shot away at the horn to preserve the tie.

Columbiana visits Pymatuning Valley on Wednesday. Struthers begins its Northeast-8 conference slate that night at Niles.