BAY VILLAGE, Ohio -- The Pirates were sunk in a west-side shore war Monday evening, dropping a hard-fought 4-1 game to the Ohio DII-top-ranked Bay Rockets.

Head Coach Kevin Zerbey gave his charges a nod for their game effort: "Despite the loss, I'm pleased with how the boys played tonight. I knew it was going to be a really good test for us, our toughest one yet." 

Rocky River (3-2, 2-2 Great Lakes Conference) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first half, but the powerful Rockets -- ranked No. 1 in the state (DII) by the Ohio Scholastic Coaches Association -- would go on to tally four unanswered the rest of the way. With the victory on home turf, Bay (5-0, 4-0) remained undefeated on the season.

Nate Keeling notched the River goal, his third of the season, on a penalty kick after Hogan Kern had been fouled in the box.

The victory for the Rockets marked their 50th all-time against Rocky River. In 80 meetings, Bay is 50-15-15 against the Double-R.

"It's never fun to lose to Bay," said Zerbey, "but now we have some more areas to talk about, to work on, and to improve if we want to run into them down the road in the playoffs."


by Skip Snow