CANTON, Ohio (Oct. 10, 2023) -- Rocky River trounced the GlenOak Golden Eagles 9-0 Tuesday. The high-octane duet of Ava Patti and Sophia Sindelar combined for six goals and a pair of assists, as the No. 2 (Ohio High School Athletic Association DII State Poll) Pirates won their 15th straight game.
Sindelar scored twice in the opening 11 minutes of play, once from the door step after a nice feed from Mia Carney and once on a 30-yarder that banged off the far post and into the net. River added three more scores in the opening 40 minutes (Grace Quaiser, Patti, Maeve Kelly) and took a 5-0 lead into halftime.
Sindelar scored her third of the night in the third minute of the second half. The junior's fourth of the match -- her 37th goal of the season -- was a milestone twine-finder nodded into the goal off a Carney corner kick. The goal (at 46:42) marked the 82nd of Sindelar's career, and it put her in a three-way tie with Grace Bennett (2010-13) and Abby Elinsky (2011-13) for the most goals in RRHS Girls Soccer history. Bennett, Elinsky, and Sindelar would welcome a fourth member to their club in just over 10 minutes of clock time.
After Ava Patti had assisted on Kelly's second goal of the night, she would herself benefit from Carney's fine assist work against the Golden Eagles. At 57:07, Rocky River's ninth goal of the evening was scored off a Carney corner that found Patti for her 82nd career goal.
Caitlin Rose was called on to make just three stops in River's sixth shutout in 2023. For the season, Rose and company have yielded just 0.73 goals per game. The Pirates (15-0) have scored 6.73 GPG.
That dominant margin, and the play of a dynamic duo have Pirate fans thinking of a similar season when another terrific twosome -- Bennett and Elinsky -- had the Double-R averaging 5.57 GPG and allowing 0.48. Its not the statistical notes this 2023 squad is after; its the hardware. The 2013 Pirates were DII Ohio state champs.
The two decade-apart teams were linked Tuesday night. Locked arms, four across in an impressive four-way tie atop Rocky River's scoring rolls. What this current Buccaneer bunch is working toward is joining the 2013 Pirates with some recognition signage atop Rocky River Stadium.
CANNON FIRE ...
YOUNG BUCS: The Pirates defeated the Golden Eagles 2-1 in Tuesday JV action. Scoring goals for the Maroon & White were Morgan Burnett and Gemma Hartung. Piper Tovissi and Margaret Nupp registered assists.
MISS (ALL-TIME) ASSIST (LEADER): Ava Patti's Tuesday assist marked the 61st of her career. Patti passed McKenna Klodnick (60A, 2010-13) to claim the school record.
ON DECK: River will close out Great Lakes Conference West Division play with a road game at North Olmsted Wednesday. A victory would clinch a GLC West title for the Pirates.
by Skip Snow
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