Recap: Talawanda boys soccer remains undefeated despite draw with Ross Rams
“Ross did a great job of throwing us off our game really from the very beginning.”
Dark clouds and a fresh humidity loomed in the air – a cooler evening following a rain storm that doused the turf and track at Marvin Wilhelm Athletic Complex.
After a 3-0 victory at Franklin High School on the road to become the only undefeated team remaining in the Southwestern Buckeye League (8-0-0), the Talawanda Brave boys soccer team returned home on Thursday night to take on the Ross High School Rams.
The Rams entered the night with a 3-3-1 overall record (1-1-0 in the conference) following a 1-0 loss to Franklin and a 6-0 win at home against a still-winless Edgewood squad. Despite the disparity in its records, the two teams put on a show for those in attendance under the lights at Talawanda High School Stadium.
The match officially kicked off at 7:22 p.m., with Ross owning first possession, but the first look at goal came for the home team. Freshman midfielder Josh Cary skied an attempt over the crossbar from long range just a minute and a half in, and senior forward Brayden Kent put the first shot on goal just 20 seconds later from the right side after a through pass from senior Noel Albarran.
Junior forward Barrett Markwell put on the second shot of the game for the Brave in the middle of the field following a Kent pass, but Rams junior goalkeeper Cash Montgomery saved it with ease. Kent had another chance at goal from range thanks to a free kick, but he missed wide left before Ross found their first shot on goal of the night.
Junior forward CJ Miller whipped the ball in on goal from the 25-yard line, forcing Talawanda goalkeeper Sam Hogan to make his first save 10 minutes in.
The teams would bounce back and forth between chances through the next 10 minutes, with Talawanda creating its first corner kick at the 19 minute mark. Just 30 seconds later, the Brave would generate the perfect chance.
Markwell chased a loose ball in the box and had his feet kicked out from under him, drawing a penalty kick. The designated kicker was junior Henry Eckhardt, who stepped up to the spot. After a couple of small strides, he deposited the ball in the bottom left corner for a 1-0 Brave lead.
Just 50 seconds later, Ross made an attempt to tie the game, but Miller sent his strike fading wide with the outside of his right boot.
However, the Rams did not stay down for long.
With just under 15 minutes left in the first half, a couple of penetrative passes in buildup pushed the Brave on their heels. A poorly cleared ball from the Talawanda backline landed right at the feet of Ross sophomore midfielder Noah Ante, and his 18-yard strike went through the hands of the goalkeeper Hogan to tie the game 1-1.
The final 14 minutes of the half was without as many scoring chances as the first 26, and the game remained 1-1 heading into halftime.
The rain began to come down in spurts as the second half commenced, and it was evident on the pitch. Both teams seemed to be trying to find their footing, literally and figuratively, through the first 10 minutes. However, it was Albarran who kickstarted a chance down the right side of the pitch.
A cross off the senior’s right boot to the middle deflected off a Ross defender, drawing a corner kick. Markwell, the Brave’s designated corner man, delivered a ball into the box, and it deflected to Kent on the 10-yard line. After an inside-out move with his right foot to elude a defender, he smashed the ball to the top right corner, putting Talawanda back in charge 2-1 with 27:31 remaining in the match.
The Rams were down a man on the back line after a defender was shown a second yellow card following a tackle down the visiting sideline with 23:28 left, giving Talawanda a man-advantage moving forward. Although there were times on the rush that it was evident, the Rams did not shy away from playing their offensive game, as well.
After a stoppage with just over 10 minutes left for a discussion between Ross head coach Anthony Crawford and the referee, play resumed but stayed consistently a back-and-forth affair. With five minutes left, the Brave had a look at goal, but the lob shot by sophomore forward Josiah Perry wasn’t enough to get by Montgomery.
Ross returned to the attack having nothing to lose with three and a half minutes remaining, and everything seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. Ross senior forward Owen Beske recovered a loose ball in the middle of the Talawanda box and, surrounded by four Brave defenders, laid the ball back to junior midfielder Parker Saber. After one bounce, Saber boomed a shot past Hogan in net to tie the game at 2-2.
Talawanda did everything they could to salvage a victory, but the Rams held strong in defense, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.
“It’s kind of disappointing, but we definitely fought all the way to the end,” Cary said. “It’s a rivalry game, and Ross came out, and they wanted to come get us. We were undefeated coming in, and they were ready. We started slow, but (there were) a couple of lucky shots both ways, and we’ll go get them next time.”
While there were plenty of plays through the game that seemed to make or break the backs of the Brave, the Rams’ first goal was the focus. With a wet field and a wet ball, anything can happen, and even though the shot was tracked well, a misplay in net led to an uncharacteristic goal against the Braves.
“Just an unfortunate first goal that slipped through our keeper’s hands,” Jones said. “The game was kind of ours, but they definitely got us, so they deserved what they got I think. But we’ll regroup, and it will be about how our team responds moving forward.”
After the postgame handshakes, the Brave players walked to the bench in the pouring rain and picked up their bags holding an utter disgust for the result. Comments such as “Just terrible, guys,” “That was awful,” and other exclamations could be heard by everyone exiting under their umbrellas.
While the game may sit like a loss for now, Talawanda is still officially without a defeat this season, and staying the course is important as ever following the first taste of defeat.
“(We just) need to continue to be resilient and patient and keep doing the things we’re doing,” Jones said. “We need to be able to adjust during play a little bit quicker than we’re doing right now. They gave us some good challenges and problems to solve, and we were just a little bit late in solving them. … I still believe in our guys.”
The Talawanda boys soccer team will play its next match at 7:15 p.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 14, at Monroe High School.
