CHESTERLAND, Ohio – Tremendous team play and dominant defense, along with four almost-unanswered twine-finders, have the Rocky River Pirates advancing to a region final in the 2020 DII Ohio Tournament. The Maroon & White earned their 15th consecutive victory in decisive fashion, soundly defeating a West Geauga Wolverines squad which had yielded only eight goals over its previous 18 matches. The Pirates beat the Wolverines, 4-1.
Freshman Ava Patti netted her ninth and 10
th goals of the 2020 postseason, scores that amounted to nails in a coffin otherwise fashioned with goals from Taylor Byall and Keira Vesy and with a big performance from Maya Patti and the River defense. And now, unbeaten Rocky River (18-0-2) moves on in the
DII Region 5 bracket: the Pirates will take on Revere in the regional final on Saturday (kickoff at noon, venue TBD).
The third-ranked (DII Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association) Pirates weathered a good bit of Wolverine pressure early and then countered with the opening score of the match in the sixth minute. River’s first goal was tallied by Taylor Byall who finished on a beautiful cross from Maya Patti.
The middle minutes of the first half were an even exchange, and both teams had multiple scoring opportunities. But Byall’s goal – her third of the postseason – remained the lone score of the half until the 38th minute when Keira Vesy fired a sharp-angle dart inside the far post on a 22-yard free kick. With Vesy’s goal, Rocky River went into halftime leading, 2-0.
An Ava Patti goal – on a put back of her own shot which was initially saved by the West Geauga goalkeeper -- extended the Pirate lead to 3-0 in the 48th minute. The freshman standout would score again in the 54th minute to lift the Maroon & White to a 4-0 lead. A tremendous hustle play by Sophia Murray ignited that opportunity. Maya Patti reeled in her second assist on the night on what marked her younger sister’s 25th goal of the season and her 10th of these playoffs.
Swarming defense, with passing lanes stifled, would get River most of the way home from there. A would-be 15th shutout of the season was snuffed out with a Wolverines goal just eight seconds before time ran out.
The Rocky River offense managed its four goals against a West Geauga (15-4) team which went into the contest having won seven straight games. The Wolverines outscored foes, 42-1, over that win streak, and West Geauga had won 30 of its last 36 games dating back to last season.
With her two assists, senior Maya Patti moved past Ashley Rucker (class of 2007) and into sole possession of fifth place of River’s all-time scoring list. Through Tuesday’s win, Patti has registered 119 points (43 goals, 33 assists) in her Pirate career.
Impressive stuff for these Pirates on what was a tremendous Tuesday for the Double-R. And Rocky River’s marvelous campaign now continues.
by Skip Snow
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