–Crosstown rivals battle to a tie in soccer
26 September 2007By Michael Painter
REYNOLDS - September 24, 2007 - Anytime you get Roberson and Reynolds together on the field, it doesn’t matter what sport it is, and more times than not, it’s going to be close. Such was the case on Monday night at Reynolds as the two soccer stalwarts battled to the end. After 100 minutes of playing time, including two, ten-minute overtimes, the score was tied, 2-2. That’s about as close as you can get it. The two teams met in the finals of the Moes’ Challenge Cup a couple of weeks ago, with Reynolds (9-3-1)winning by the score of 2-1.
"It was a great high school soccer game," said Rockets coach Patrick Gladys. "T C is always dangerous, especially on their long throw-ins and corner kicks. Anytime that we play, it ’s a toss up. We are fortunate to get out of here with a tie. They had some good opportunities to score and we were able to hold them off."
Roberson (7-5-2) started the scoring off in the 27th minute. Actually, it was an ‘own goal’ that got past Reynolds’ goalie, Jonathan Sorrentino. An own goal is one that is put in by the opposing team. The Rams’ John Mitchell had a corner kick that hit one of the Rockets’ players and glanced into the back of the net, giving the Rams a 1-0 lead.
It wasn’t until the 61st minute that the next goal was scored. Reid Usedom put in a shot the net to tie the score at 1-1.
It stayed that way through the end of regulation, though both teams had their opportunities. With the play of the keepers, Sorrentino for Reynolds and Ryan Schmidt and Ronnie Hreha for Roberson along with the defenders on each team, no one was able to get the ball in the net.
It looked like the first overtime was going to be scoreless until the Rams’ Paul Egle put
one in with 12.8 seconds left, giving them a the lead again, 2-1.
"It was like a couple of heavyweights out there," added Gladys. "throwing counter-punches and no one giving an inch."
In the second overtime, Jake Sides was at the right place at the right time. On a penalty kick, the Ram’s Hreha came out to get the ball and it bounced off him to another Ram player who headed it in the air right to Sides, who headed the tying goal into the net in the 93rd minute.
"It came right to me," said Sides. "It was nice to walk away with a tie. We usually play them only once, but to beat them and tie them is great. I play with a couple of them
on our club team in the off-season."
The play of his team gave Roberson’s Rob Wilcher a smile at the end.
"It was a great game with both teams playing their guts out to win," said Wilcher. "I’m proud of the kids. They played as well as they can. We have had times this year where we didn’t give it our best, but they played well for over 100 minutes. They never gave up."
Reynolds has 18 shots on goal and Roberson garnered 16. Sorrentino had 4 saves while Roberson ’s Schmidt had four and Hreha had 2.
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
