By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Watching the Ravenna boys soccer team in their season opener on Friday was practically the equivalent of watching math on a soccer field.

Shapes, angles and calculate touches consistently created space an opportunities for the Ravens.

The result was a commanding 4-0 victory over the host Southeast Pirates in the season opener for both teams as part of the OHSAA’s Friday Night Futbol initiative.

The win for Ravenna also secured The Keys to the Arsenal — the prized possession played for by both the Ravens and Pirates each year in their annual rivalry series.

Ravenna’s possession-based attack broke free for its first goal with 32:20 left in the first half when Ben Hatcher threaded a through-ball to teammate Mason Ward breaking free down the left edge.

Ward took the pass and chopped a cut-dribble around the Southeast goalkeeper to slot the ball into the open net.

Just eight minutes later, the Ravens jumped the score up to 2-0 when Nick Iurato took the ball deep to the end line to the left of the goal and pushed a well-weighted cross on the ground in front of the goal and under an over-committed goalie that teammate Julian Rios one-touched into the net.

The build-up for the goal started in the midfield with Michael Myers, who sent a pass out wide on the left side to Ward, who sent a bounding ball into space for Iurato to run onto.

A third goal from Ravenna made it 3-0 at halftime.

Iurato, who was masterful from his midfield position, was once again on distribution when he sent a ball between a pair of Pirates defenders to Ward, who went low left corner for the score with 22:15 to playin the first half.

The three goals from Ravenna (1-0) all came within 10 minutes of each other and showcased the team’s ability to connect a combination of passes together.

“Those were plays that did not happen by accident,” Ravenna head coach Matt Wunderle said. “You will definitely see us build more this year than last year with those combinations. We are still learning who we are, but I am really happy with where we are at right now, and we will be ready to shift as the season goes on.”

Ward netted his third goal in the second half to earn his hat trick and complete the scoring.

Ward’s goal came at the 11:34 mark and came off a left-footed strike from about 15 yards out that pushed past the goalie and into the net.

The second half, though, proved the Pirates’ ability to compete with passion despite having only 13 players on the roster this season and not one being a senior (3 juniors, 7 sophomores and 3 freshmen).

“The goals we gave up tonight were the result of a very good Ravenna team,” Southeast head coach Curtis Ahrens said. “I think it showed how inexperienced we are on defense. In the last two years, we have lost 20 players, and we have a lot of young players and they battled tonight. I think that says a lot about them and I think it says a lot about our future. We had players literally throwing their bodies on the line tonight to stop shots. We played with desire and heart and you can’t coach those things.”

Southeast’s gritty effort caught the attention of Wunderle, as well.

“I think you have to give the Pirates a lot of credit for the way they played tonight,” he said. “That is a hard-working group, and I have a lot of respect for how they played.”

Ravenna’s Iurato, who led the team in assists last year with 12, collected two more on Friday and had many shots on goal that went wide.

“Nick is the most creative player I have ever coached,” Wunderle said. “He is a joy to watch, especially on turf. He allows us to do so much on the field because of what he sees ahead of everyone else. He plays quick and he can play deceptively.”

For Southeast, sophomore goalkeeper Kendrick Campbell had a number of nice saves and finished with 12 for the game.