by Jeff Wickerham
On Monday, October 16, the Tri-Valley Scotties (11-4-1) took on the Morgan Raiders (6-9) at Kenny Wolford Park in Dresden, OH. As the sun started to set on a traditional fall evening in Ohio, the Raiders and Scotties kicked off with a game time temperature of 54 degrees.
Starters for the Scotties were; Keeper: Sophomore Owen Harney, Defenders: Senior Captains Camden Wickerham and Devin Watts, Junior Chris Garbrandt, and Sophomore Oliver Baker, Midfielders: Juniors Nick Flarey, Yuvi Bastola, and Dominic Dale and Freshman Corbin Ryan, Forwards: Senior Captain Sam Schott and Sophomore Cris Carpenter. Subbing in during the match were; Seniors: Elijah Felumlee, Gael Oseguara and Gage Hindel, Juniors: Laetyn Holdsworth, Sophomores: Chance Storer, Ty Young, Cole Daugherty, Freshmen: Jake Pratt, Blake Spencer, Lewis Mozena, Rylee Winters, and Quinton Lazar.
Playoff soccer, just like any other kind of playoff, found the intensity jacked up a notch. Both teams came to play clean, hard soccer. The first 15 minutes went back and forth with some quick strikes by both teams. The pressure finally broke the Morgan keeper, when Carpenter found Bastola for the first goal of the match. Tri-Valley 1, Morgan 0.
At the 29 minute mark, Schott took a free kick from 30 yards out. As the ball sailed towards the goal, a Morgan player tried to head it out, but the ball ricocheted into the goal, giving the Scotties a 2-0 lead.
No goals were scored for the remaining half and Tri-Valley took their 2-0 lead into halftime. Coach Keith Laughlin made a few key points, noticing his team was splitting their midfield and defense, creating space. He also made sure his team knew Morgan will have nothing to lose and are going to give everything they could give, so his players needed to be ready for the challenge.
When play started again, it was almost 15 minutes until the net was found again. In the 54th minute, Schott found Bastola, who buried the ball into the back of the net for his 2nd goal, 3-0 Scotties.
Play got a little chippy 5 minutes later and yellow cards were issued to players on each team. The Scotties wrenched it up a bit and this time Bastola found Young who shot the ball past the keeper in the 62 minute, 4-0 Tri-Valley. 3 minutes later, Dale found Bastola for his 3rd goal of the game, 5-0 Scotties.
Morgan didn’t lay down though. In the 71st minute, Morgan played a ball over the defense. Harney came out to try and grab it, but the Morgan player put it over him and into the back of the net. 5-1 Scotties. Then, in the 76th minute, Bastola was at it again, but this time finding Mozena, who placed the ball past the keeper, 6-1 Scotties.
With 1 minute to go, Morgan again showed it’s fight, scoring it’s 2nd and final goal of the season. The game ended with Tri-Valley on top, 6-2.
Harney had 9 saves in the game, a few of them in which he had to dive for, saving goals. In the post-game huddle, Garbrandt told the team he took full responsibility for the 2 goals which were scored, letting his teammates know it wouldn’t happen again.
Next up in tournament play, Tri-Valley (12-4-1) will host a strong Zanesville (8-7-2) team, who took out Maysville with a score of 4-2, in their first tournament game. Game time will be 6:30 on Wednesday, October 18 at Kenny Wolford Park in Dresden.
#RentsDue