ORRVILLE, Ohio (Oct. 25, 2022) -- Rocky River's artful foray into the Buckeye State tournament brackets came to an end Tuesday. After impressive wins at No. 11-seeded Gilmour (Oct. 17) and No. 7 Lutheran West (Saturday), the No. 17 Pirates ran into a speedy, tenacious No. 6 Orville Red Riders squad Tuesday night. In a hard-fought contest on a balmy October evening, the late-charging Lads of Autumn were defeated 3-0.
The Pirates (7-7-5) played the Red Riders tough through large swaths of the
OHSAA DII Akron 3 District Tournament semifinal. But the home side had speed to burn at both ends of the field, quickness to light the fuse, and fine footwork to fan the flames. Orville (16-1-2) leveraged its fleet feet in scoring one goal in the first half and two in the second.
In the 18th minute, a bit of a defensive misplay on a long aerial ball gave the Red Riders -- who averaged 5 goals per game heading into the match -- an advantage is setting up a speed play down the left side. Jonathan Gonzales set up the attempt, reversing a River touch off the long ball. Gonzales deftly sent the ball to Jerson Lopez Irias, who planted a sharp angle goal to lift the home side to a 1-0 lead.
In the 45th minute, Deninssonn Lopez Irias found twine on a penalty kick. Lopez Irias would score again in the 64th minute, utilizing his speed to bolt through the Pirate back line after a takeaway.
That goal in the 64th minute capped off the scoring in the match. Rocky River fought hard to keep the nimble Riders from adding to their total. Senior goalkeeper Will DeClerck keyed that effort, making the last four saves of his fine prep career over the final 10 minutes of play. That span included a 10-bell save on a doorstep header in the 74th minute.
The Pirates worked their way to seven shots over the final 12 minutes of play. Two were on goal but saved by the Orville 'keeper. Three of the five misses were shot-blocks by quick-footed Orville defenders. And when the clock hit triple-zeroes, the Red Riders had closed out their 15th shutout of the season.
Orville now moves on to face No. 2 Bay in a Saturday district final at Pat Catan Stadium in Strongsville.
"They say only three teams in Ohio end their season happy," said coach Kevin Zerbey, whose Double-R squad battled back after a 1-5-1 September to go 5-2-1 in October. "I refuse to see things that way. Our season ended tonight -- maybe not where we all wanted it to end -- but the effort the boys put in and how they competed make me proud."
Among the sports fans located where the south shore of a Great Lake meets the west bank of the mighty Rocky River, count Zerbey as being anything but alone in that sentiment.by Skip Snow