COSHOCTON, Ohio (Oct. 29, 2024) -- Senior Sophia Sindelar scored six goals and the Pirates held off a late charge by the Blue Aces, as Rocky River defeated Granville 6-4 in Tuesday night playoff action. The victory at Stewart Field in Coshocton sends the Maroon & White into a DIII Region final on Saturday.
Sindelar, who has now tallied three-plus goals in eight consecutive games, netted a trio of scores in the opening 30 minutes of play, and the Pirates looked to be cruising to their 20th win of the fall. But Central District No. 2 Granville had other ideas for how the match would play out from there.
The Aces (14-2-2) rallied with two scores late in the first half, and the region semifinal went into halftime with the 2013 state championship game foes separated by just one score.
The first 11 minutes of the second played out in that same 3-2 game state, but the Pirates (20-0-1) upped their lead to 4-2 when Sindelar scored off a Lexi Hammermeister free kick in the 52nd minute. The Hammermeister helper marked the second assist coming from the Buccaneer back line. Defender Natalie Crompton had clocked her third assist of the season on River's second goal.
Again, a gritty Granville squad answered. The Aces returned fire in the 58th minute, scoring off a throw-in to get back within one (4-3). But the back-and-forth kept its momentum when Sindelar buried a 15-yarder off a give-and-go with Grace Quaiser four minutes later.
The Checkered Buccaneers then got a key goal in the 72nd minute when Morgan Burnett, Addie Russell, and Sindelar laced up River's sixth tally of the night. The Blue Aces played the final card of the match when they scored in the 76th minute, and River played out the triumph despite allowing more-than-one goal for just a second time this season (four goals allowed in 5-4 win over Avon Sept. 18).
Sindelar's sixth goal marked her 59th this autumn. That ties her own single-season program record she set a year ago. The Double-R standout had earlier, on her fourth goal, broken her own point record from 2023. Through Tuesday, Sindelar has ledgered 59 goals and 24 assists (142 points).
In the Tuesday clash in Coshocton, her six goals equaled what Granville had yielded to shooters of all stripes in going 8-0-2 over its previous 10 matches.
Sindelar & company will now return to Stewart Field on Saturday, when they will engage in a noon Region 11 title tussle against New Concord John Glenn. The Little Muskies (14-5-1), champs of the East District, earned a double-overtime 1-0 win over Lancaster Fairfield Union in Tuesday's other Region 11 semifinal. [
DIII playoff bracket]
CANNON FIRE ...
WIN FARM: With Tuesday's victory, Rocky River has won 20 games for a second year in a row (23-1 in 2023) and a third time in program history (22-0-1 in 2013). ... The 2024 Pirates have now averaged 5.62 goals per game. That's the second-highest average in school history (6.29 GPG last fall).
MISS OCTOBER: Sindelar tied her own program single-game goals record with the six twine-finders against Granville. The senior sensation also scored 6G in River's last match (Saturday vs. Mansfield Madison) and on Aug. 19, 2023 (vs. Avon Lake). She has filed 18G and 3A during these playoffs. In nine October games, Sindelar ledgered 33G and 8A. ... Sophia Sindelar has scored four-plus goals five times this season and 13 times in her career.
by Skip Snow
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