ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (May 22, 2024) -- For a 10th time in as many times this spring, the Maroon & White have successfully defended their Pirate fortress on Detroit Road. On Wednesday, Rocky River ran its home mark to 10-0 as the Sons of Blackbeard advanced in Buckeye State tournament play with a 1-3 victory over the Warriors of Walsh Jesuit High School.

Rocky River (14-5) extricated itself from an early tangle (the Pirates led 3-2 at the half) with a monster third quarter. With goals from four different players and caused turnovers from five, the Double-R blanked Walsh 6-0 in that penultimate period. The Buccaneers would go on to outscore the Warriors 10-1 in the second half. A dominant Pirate defense yielded just five shots on goal over that span.

With what marked their fourth straight win, the Pirates -- tabbed as the No. 2 seed in Region 5 -- now move on to a Region 5 semifinal match-up against No. 7 Toledo St. John. That game will be held Tuesday at Rocky River Stadium (game time TBA).

Rocky River's top four long poles -- defensemen Cohen Blair, Trent Delventhal, and Tyler Stanciu and midfielder Will Sawyer -- went into Wednesday's game against No. 8 Walsh (10-8) with a combined 230 ground balls and 110 caused turnovers. But those numbers may well not stack up to what River does best on defense and that's force less-than-optimum shot attempts. In what has been a season-long trend, the Pirates blocked, harassed and shouldered Walsh shooters into numerous misfires each quarter. 

For the game, Walsh registered 28 total shots and 11 efforts on frame. Many were of the not-so-clean variety. That core of the Rocky River defense, backed by another sharp effort from goalkeeper Gordon Hudson, helped Walsh shooters under wraps. And that Walsh squad had scored 31 goals over its previous two games. 

At the other end, River came through with more-than-a-few netfinders set up by alert and well-timed passes. Six different Pirates scored, and that group was outnumbered by the various angles from where the scoring shots were launched. For the game, the Maroon & White filed assists on 10 goals and registered 29 shots and 19 shots on goal. The Pirates' 13 goals marked their most in a single game since April 18 (16 vs. Hawken).

Leading the scoring charge were Michael Bebie, Andrew Lang, and Dominic Ricketti with three goals each. Bebie and Ricketti each chipped in with two assists. Joe Smith added 2G and 2A.

Other impactful contributions were made by Blair (7 GB, 4 CT), Delventhal (1A, 5 GB, 2 CT), Hudson (eight saves), Rowan McDougal (1G, 1A, 3 GB, 1 CT), and Will Sawyer (3 GB, 2 CT).

For the game, River had 11 spills, and the Pirates finished as a turnover plus (plus-4) for a fourth time in its last five games.

HIGH 5: On Friday, the all-Region 5 team was announced, and several Pirates were tabbed as honorees. Senior attackman Rowan McDougal and senior midfielder Andrew Lang were named all-region first teamers. Senior midfielder Will Sawyer and sophomore defenseman Cohen Blair were tabbed as all-Region 5 second-team honorees. And senior defenseman Trent Delventhal, who entered Wednesday's regional quarterfinal with 25 ground balls and 10 caused turnovers over his last four games, was named R5 Defenseman of the Year. 

PIRATES-WARRIORS: Wednesday's contest marked the eighth all-time meeting between Rocky River and Walsh. Meeting No. 1, in a playoff game on May 22, 2015, went down as a Warriors' victory. But the Pirates have now countered with seven straight wins since. That includes two postseason wins (2021, 2024).

THE THRILL OF THE SPILL: With 11 caused turnovers Wednesday, the Maroon & White has now logged double-digit spill totals in four of their last five games and in nine games in 2024. ... River went into Wednesday's contest averaging 9.3 CT per game, up from 7.0 last year and the highest average for the program since 2021 (10.1). ... The Pirates' 14 wins this spring mark the program's most in a single season since 2018 (17-4). ... In stopping 8-of-11 shots sent his way Wednesday, Gordon Hudson has now authored a sparkling .714 save percentage (30-of-42) over Rocky River's last four games. 

by Skip Snow

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