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River downs Hawken, 8-7

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio – Rocky River staved off a second-half surge by the visiting Hawken Hawks, as the Pirates won 8-7, halting a three-game skid on Wednesday night.

Rocky River (8-5) rode a strong second period -- one that saw the home side outscore the visitors, 4-1 -- to the eventual one-goal victory under the lights on a clear, chilly evening at Rocky River Stadium. Michael Snow, Aaron Kosmerl and Nolan Weaver led the second-quarter attack on offense. A busy Max Kovesdy provided solid work with the long pole, and Chris Welch made four saves in the decisive second stanza.

Weaver finished the game with four points (two goals, two assist) and Kosmerl tallied three (one, two). Those two and Snow (two goals) would connect on assisted goals three times in the four-goal second quarter. Kovesdy finished the game with two caused turnovers and five ground balls.

After being outscored, 6-2, over the opening 24 minutes of play, a resilient Hawks team outscored the Pirates, 5-2, in the second half. River’s offense stalled in the fourth quarter, with the Pirates managing no goals on just two shots on target in 13 tries.

“We can do more offensively,” said Head Coach Chris Skinner, “but I do like the depth and variety I saw in our attack tonight.”

What a coach also likes to see is late lighting in a quarter. Half of River’s eight goals came in the final minute of quarters. That includes two goals – one by Snow and one by Kosmerl – in the final 30 seconds of the Wednesday’s second quarter.

With the loss, Hawken (2-10) has now dropped three straight. The Hawks are winless in a half-dozen road games this season.

Rocky River is slated to continue its season with a road tilt against Medina on Friday.

 

NOTES …

JV ROLLS: Eight different players found the back of the net, as Rocky River routed Hawken, 16-2, in Wednesday’s junior varsity game. Logan Fortune and William St. Pierre each tallied six points in the contest.

BIG ‘D’: River’s defense got back to its days of single-digit goal allowance on Wednesday. After yielding 13.7 goals and 21.0 shots on goal per game over its previous three, the Pirates yielded just seven Hawken goals on 13 shots on goal. … Two of the goals River did allow Wednesday were on man-down situations. For the game, the Hawks went 2-for-5 with an extra attacker; the Pirates went 0-for-1. That marks back-to-back games with no man-up goal for the RR offense.

PASSING FANCY: With his two helpers on Wednesday, attackman Aaron Kosmerl moved past fellow senior Michael Malloy on the season assist list. Malloy has 12 assists on the year; Kosmerl now has 14. … River attackmen and midfielders registered six saves on the team’s eight goals. That marks the Pirates’ best passing game since logging nine assists on 13 goals against Avon on March 31. … Freshman midfielder Andrew Snow went 3-for-4 on a quartet of faceoffs, and that includes the younger brother of senior Michael Snow getting a key win at the 1:21-mark in the fourth, with the Pirates clinging to a one-goal lead. The first-year Pirate also had a key run through traffic on a successful clear late in win against Hawken. … Wednesday’s victory snapped a 4-4 tie in the Pirates’ all-time series with the Hawks. The east side-west side rivalry dates back to 2006.

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