ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Oct. 14, 2023) -- Rocky River registered its fourth consecutive shutout in what marked the squad's regular-seaqson finale Saturday. And River's Saturday game wasn't just a run-of-the-mill free parking space on the Monopoly board of scheduling. The Pirates defeated the Clear Fork Colts in a ranked-ranked match-up at Rocky River Stadium. The No. 2 (Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association DII Girls State Poll) Pirates defeated the No. 12 Colts 6-0.
An early Ava Patti goal was the lone tally on the board for nearly 30 minutes of clock time, but Rocky River (17-0) managed a late-first-half goal -- Patti again -- and led the Colts 2-0 at the half.
As it turned out, those two goals would easily do the trick. River would hold Clear Fork (11-3-3) to just one shot on goal for the match. That shot, on a 30-yard free kick, was easily corralled by starting goalkeeper Caitlin Rose, who played all 80 minutes to earn the shutout.
The home side rifled 18 shots in on frame. Two-thirds of those were parried by the the Colts netminder, but Rocky River still managed, for the game, three goals by Patti, one by Maeve Kelly, and two by Sophia Sindelar.
The shutout marked Rocky River's eighth of the season. The unbeaten Pirates will now prep for the portion of their schedule where wins -- and only wins -- earn another game date.
CANNON FIRE ...
JV FINALE: The junior varsity Pirates closed out their fall campaign with a 1-1 draw against Clear Fork. River's lone goal was scored by Audrey Spurlock off a corner kick by Margaret Nupp. ... Nupp finished the season as the River JV's third-leading scorer with four goals and five assists (13 points). The Pirates were led offensively by Morgan Burnett (8G-1A--17P) and Gemma Hartung (7-0--14).
FANCY TIES: Sophia Sindelar's second goal Saturday marked her 43rd of the season. That ties Sindelar with Abbie Elinsky-2013 for the most RR goals in a single season. ... Ava Patti logged her 31st assist of the season; that ties her with McKenna Klodnick-2013 for the single-season record in that category.
BUCKEYE STATE BRACKETS: Rocky River has been awarded the No. 1 seed in DII Region 6 in the upcoming OHSAA Girls Soccer State Tournament. The Pirates have a first-round bye in the
Northeast 5 District bracket. On Oct. 18, River will host either No. 22 Canton South or No. 30 Lutheran West. The single-elimination state tournament is comprised of four regions (four districts each) and runs through Nov. 10. ... Potential future game dates for the Pirates are Oct. 23 (home), Oct. 26 (North Olmsted High School), Oct. 31 (Huron HS), Nov. 4 (Bowling Green HS), Nov. 7 (TBD), and Nov. 10 (TBD).
by Skip Snow