Tuesday, October 25th, 2022
Riders advance; Bulldogs end season
By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Zachary Hesse/The Daily Standard
St. Marys' Easton Craft (3) battles Kenton's Jayson Dyer for control of the ball during Monday's district match in Elida.
ELIDA - The Division II boys soccer district title game will come down to a Western Buckeye League rematch.
St. Marys got a goal midway through the first half and made it stand up in avenging an earlier loss to Kenton 1-0 in the nightcap of district semifinals at Elida on Monday night.
The Roughriders (16-3-1) face league champion Shawnee after the Indians got two goals from Player of the Year Austin Miller to shut out Celina 2-0 in the opening match.
The district final will be Thursday at 6 p.m. back in Elida. Shawnee (16-1-1) won the regular season meeting 5-0, the most goals allowed by the Roughriders in a game this season.
"We're already game-planning for that one," said St. Marys coach Josh Hertenstein.
St. Marys 1, Kenton 0
The regular season meeting went Kenton's way 3-1, but the Roughriders, having won six straight since that loss on Sept. 27, were ready to keep the Wildcats scoreless.
"We played Kenton right after we played Shawnee," said Hertenstein. "I think we were still (reeling) from that, but (St. Marys) showed up tonight. Our defense was pretty stout. We're happy with the boys."
Photo by Zachary Hesse/The Daily Standard
St. Marys' Braden Keller gets ready to kick the ball during Monday's Division II district boys soccer match with Kenton at Elida.
The Roughriders were in focus from the start, keeping the Wildcats from getting decent looks at the goal. Kenton (14-4-1) did likewise when St. Marys was on the attack.
Things finally paid off for St. Marys as the clock closed in on the halfway point of the first half. AJ Dieringer worked his way through traffic and found Will Menker inside the box, and Menker put the ball past Kenton keeper MJ Coulson-Harper with 21:20 remaining in the first half for the only goal of the match.
"AJ took it down the side and did all the dirty work," Hertenstein said. "Will was in the perfect spot as AJ took it to the bottom (of the goal box) and put it across for Will. It was beautiful."
While St. Marys had no more chances in the game, neither did Kenton. The Roughriders had just a 4-1 advantage on shots in the game, but did manage a 5-3 advantage on corner kicks to keep the pressure on the Wildcats.
The game, physical throughout, intensified as Kenton tried to find an opening to get the equalizer. The Roughriders played through and came out with the win.
"We preach to them all the time to keeping their heads when there's a hard foul and mouths are running," said Hertenstein. "Just keep your head, keep working hard and things will go your way. Tonight proved that."
Shawnee 2, Celina 0
Photo by Zachary Hesse/The Daily Standard
Celina's Karsyn Smalley (6) tries to keep the ball away from Shawnee's Luca Fusillo.
Bulldogs coach Ryan Jenkins just wanted to stay close to the Indians through the first half, and believed his squad did just that.
The teams were scoreless through the first 30 minutes of action, but Miller, the WBL Player of the Year with 32 goals coming into the match, was finally able to break through and get a goal past Celina keeper Brady Steinbrunner with 9:26 remaining in the opening half to give Shawnee a 1-0 lead at the half.
"(Shawnee's) a team that when they score a goal, they score them in bunches," said Jenkins, whose squad ends the season at 8-9-1. "Keeping them to one goal in the first half was the goal."
Celina continued to put up a solid defensive battle to keep Shawnee from getting an insurance goal while working for a chance to level the score in the second half. Shawnee's defense, though, upped its play and kept Celina from getting a shot on goal in the second half.
Miller broke free for that second goal with 15:47 remaining in the match with another unassisted goal.
"Austin's a great player," said Jenkins. "He made good individual plays that he finished (with goals).
"It was a good game. Our guys battled to the end," he continued. "It's tough for our seniors. Anytime you (end the season with a loss) it's tough. You tip your cap to Shawnee."
Photo by Zachary Hesse/The Daily Standard
Celina's Zach Greber (4) battles Shawnee's Alex McGuire (6) for control of the ball during Monday's Division II district match at Elida.
