ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Oct. 24, 2023) -- Tuesday's match at Rocky River Stadium took place on a warm evening with a soft breeze. The weather said sleepy, late-August, early-season soccer. What was on the line in this one said anything but.
The No. 4-seed (DII Region 6) Rocky River Pirates and No. 12 Hawken Hawks tussled over spoils most important and urgent -- the right to keep playing. Tuesday's tilt was a semifinal game in the
Northeast 5 District Tournament. With a goal in the opening half and an impressive 2-for-1 exchange in the second, the Pirates defeated the Hawks 3-1 and are now headed to the title game in that district bracket.
Rocky River (16-3) tallied the lone score of the first half when Gabriel Schroth planted his fifth of the season on a feed from Walid Tokhi in the 30th minute. The Pirates doubled their lead in the 52nd minute when Steph Loizos took the ball down the left side and loosed a long pass from some 40 yards out. Eric Gorius tracked it down, bolting past the Hawks defense and winning a 50-50 against the Hawken goalkeeper. He shot the ball to the 'keeper's right and into the net for his eighth goal this fall.
Hawken (6-9-4) then countered quickly whena minute later a long throw-in set up a two-man game 10 yards in front of River 'keeper Gio Lizzini. Hawken converted from the doorstep, halving the Pirate lead.
The Buccaneers nearly registered an insurance goal in the 64th minute, but a Zach Kern penalty kick caromed off the cross bar. The senior captain kept his head in the game, however. As things would unfold in the 70th minute, it was that head that would produce a remarkable goal to extend the River lead to 3-1 and effectively extricate the Pirates from the high-danger portion of the night. Lining up a 15-yard header off a well-placed free kick from Stephen Cain, Kern nodded an arcing effort just over the reach of the Hawk 'keeper and just under the crossbar for his 15th goal this season. The room afforded both Kern and the lob-wedge orb he produced were minimal. The effect on the scoreboard and the management of the lead from then on was anything but.
With solid defensive plays turned in by Vinny Anthony, Landon Biscardi, Gorius, Dylan Laporte, Tanner Laporte, and Lizzini (three saves in the game), the Sons of Blackbeard sailed their 3-1 lead to port. And now they find themselves somewhere the River program hasn't been since 2018 -- in a district final with an opportunity to move on to a region bracket.
That Northeast 5 District Tournament title match will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium in Brunswick. It will pit the Pirates against the No. 1 seed in Region 6 and No.1 ranked team in Ohio (Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association DII State Poll), the Revere Minutemen.
"It rarely comes easy, but this team has been winning a lot of different ways," said coach Kevin Zerbey. "I think we're battled-tested and ready to give the top-ranked team in the state a run for its money."
by Skip Snow