By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Aurora junior center midfielder Barry Wagner’s goal with but 3 minutes to go in the game gave Aurora a 1-0 lead and an apparent 10th victory of the season Sept. 30 at home against Kent

Roosevelt.

“It was a classic Barry-type goal,” head coach Louis Kastelic said. “He’s the guy who does all the dirty work and/or the necessary work defensively, offensively, anything we need. He’s around a lot of the activity on the field. It was nice to actually see him get a goal because he doesn’t always get rewarded with those. I was very happy for him.”

The Greenmen, the state’s third-ranked team in Division III, had to settle for a tie when the Rough Riders evened the score with only 30 seconds left, but it did allow the Greenmen to clinch at least a share of the Suburban League American Conference championship.

Aurora is now 9-1-3.

The Greenmen will have an opportunity to win the title outright when they travel to Barberton on Tuesday (Oct. 7).

“It was a whirlwind of emotions, that’s for sure,” said Kastelic. “The game was a challenge; we expected that. We dominated a lot of possession, but Roosevelt was very disciplined defensively, making it tough to penetrate and get any shots on goal. A lot of the shots we did get were contested. We were getting chances off of throw-ins and corner kicks, and you could feel a little momentum as far as the last 10 minutes of the game.”

ROOTSTOWN

It was no contest for Rootstown Sept. 29 in a 12-0 triumph at home over Garfield that upped the Rovers’ record to 10-3-1.

“Garfield had kids out there who’d never played a sport. They gave it their all,” head coach Charlie Voth said. “We put in our junior varsity kids in the second half.”

Leading the way were junior left forward Zach Pastor, who turned in a hat trick and had an assist. Scoring two goals apiece were junior center forward Sam Textor and freshman halfback Everett Cone, usually a JV player.

“Zach just finds creases in the defense,” Voth said. “Sam has been a starter all along. He’s fast, has a good shot and is all around a really good player.”

It was a different story two days earlier, on Sept. 27 in Rootstown’s 2-0 loss at Kidron Central Christian.

“If we’d had an early goal, things could’ve been different,” said the coach. “But Central Christian took a 1-0 lead with about 2 minutes left in the first half. About halfway through the second half we were pushing, and they caught us and split our fullbacks, and the guy hit a nice shot to make it 2-0.”

CRESTWOOD

The goalkeeper position for Crestwood head coach Amanda Parsons has been nothing but a headache this season.

Junior Gabe Weaver, the Red Devils’ No. 1 goalkeeper, was injured three weeks ago and still has not returned. Backup goalkeeper Sam Pausch, a sophomore, made some remarkable saves but was injured at the end of the first half of a 5-1 defeat Sept. 27 at Hubbard, dropping Crestwood’s record to 5-8.

“Since my top two goalkeepers were out,” Parsons said, “I had to put in Bryce Larch, my junior varsity goalkeeper, for the second half of the Hubbard game. It was his first time in goal at the varsity level, but he played very well, going in pretty cold off the bench.”

Larch responded by making 12 saves in the half.

Freshman midfielder Henry Sommer scored the Red Devils’ only goal on a free kick from 25 yards out (his second from at least 25 yards this season).

“Henry has become pretty reliable being a freshman,” said Parsons. “He’s very familiar with competitive play, so he’s a huge asset for us.”

RAVENNA

Ravenna head coach Eric Hedge has 23 players on his roster.

Most of them, however, are either underclassmen or upperclassmen who have never played soccer but just wanted to give the sport a try.

“It’s just a matter of getting these younger boys some more time and some more skills in the off-season, honing their skills,” said Hedge. “We have quantity, but not quite quality. That’s exciting, though, for the program that we’re able to have good numbers.”

Hedge has built a culture of his players simply enjoying the game of soccer.

“That speaks to the character of the young men who I coach,” Hedge said, pointing to the Ravens’ latest defeat by a 10-0 score Sept. 30 at Field that dropped their record to 3-10-1. “Even against Field, had I kept my starters in, we probably would’ve held them to six goals, but I have 11 more guys sitting on the bench who come to practice every day, and it was time to get some of those guys in and give them an opportunity to play in a game.

“Championships definitely aren’t in the picture right now, but just building that love of the game and building that type of culture is exciting.”

GARFIELD

Garfield has scored only two goals combined all season in dropping its first 14 games.

“We started the season with about nine players,” head coach Theo Cebulla said. “Then I got some kids and got some more kids and got some more kids. The kids I have really haven’t been playing sports — if they had, maybe basketball — but they’ve never played soccer in their lives. Most of my players are freshmen. I have two seniors, but it’s not like they grew up playing soccer since they were little kids.”

The G-Men have had a remarkably positive attitude throughout this ordeal of a season.

“I told them at the beginning of the season, ‘If you’re a freshman playing against varsity seniors … first of all, you’re not built yet, you’re not full grown,” said Cebulla. “You’re playing against people who are faster and stronger than you, so athleticism is not going to be on your side. Plus the fact that most of these opposing players have been playing since Kindergarten’.”

Freshman central midfielder Nate Grabowski has been one of the few bright spots, scoring his team’s lone goal in a loss to Jackson-Milton.

“Nate is a talented player for just having picked up the sport this year. I’m thrilled to have him,” Cebulla said. “He tries hard, he plays hard. I want to see what he’s doing in three years if he keeps on working. And he’s the kind of kid who will probably work on things.”