BAY VILLAGE, Ohio (Sept. 21, 2022) -- Rocky River dealt the No. 3-ranked (Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association, DII) Bay Rockets their first shutout of the 2022 season and just their third of the last two years, as the Pirates registered a 3-0 win over their shoreline neighbors to the west on Wednesday night.
Mackenzie Russell logged a goal and an assist and was part of a strong lockdown effort in front of River goalkeeper Caitlin Rose, who recorded six saves. Russell, Cara McKenna, Ava Patti and company were in on more than a handful of midfield thefts which short-circuited a vaunted Bay offense that went into the match averaging 7 goals per contest.
8-7-8-7-5-10-4. That's not an international phone number or the wireless code for 116Sports headquarters. Those are the Rockets game-by-game goal totals heading into Wednesday's Great Lakes Conference West Division game. On Wednesday, Rocky River held those Rockets to just six shots on goal. A Rose was pinned on each one.
The Pirates (10-1-1, 2-0 GLC West) opened up a 1-0 lead when Russell bent a 20-yard free kick into the lower-left corner of the Bay (7-1, 1-1) goal in the 21st minute. That 1-0 lead would make its way 36 minutes further into the match before Sophia Sindelar bolted through the Rocket defense to tally her 21st goal of the season.
In a hardscrabble exchange with same-team touches rarely strung together more than a couple at a time, the contest would be comprised of just 13 shots on goal (RRHS 7, BHS 6). The game did include one more goal, an insurance marker by Mia Carney -- and assisted by Patti -- in the 77th minute.
With the 3-0 result, Rocky River: earned its sixth consecutive win ... logged its eighth shutout win of the 2022 season ... and flipped the script on a 2-0 home loss to the Rockets last fall (Sept. 22).
The win also clinched an impressive ranked-ranked double-dip away from home. The Pirates opened their week with a 3-1 win over DII No. 13 Bellville Clear Fork on Tuesday. That's worthy of a brisk raising of the Jolly Roger as River's season rolls into autumn.
by Skip Snow
# # # River # # #