BEAVERCREEK — Greater Western Ohio League boys’ soccer fans have come to learn that the annual matchup between Beavercreek and Centerville will often determine the league champion.
In fact, you have to go back to 2013 to find a season in which the Beavers and Elks failed to finish in the top two spots in the league standings. In that time, The Beavers have won four outright titles, Centerville has one and the two have tied twice. Counting postseason matchups, Beavercreek owned a five to two edge in victories and the rivals have played to two draws. Only once in those nine games have the two teams combined to score four goals or more.
But 2020 is an unusual year and Tuesday night’s encounter on Frank Zink Field at Miami Valley Stadium continued the theme. The 3-3 score likely does not tell the whole story.
The Beavers and Elks raced to five goals in the game’s first 13 minutes.
Centerville started things less than two minutes after the kickoff when a shot off the crossbar fell to the feet of Kaden Combs. Combs calmly knocked it in for a 1-0 lead. The Beavers waited just 57 seconds for Mitchell Cosler to tie it off a great cross from Aiden McCarthy.
Colin Cambell put the Beavers ahead 2-1 in the 10th minute only to have Centerville’s Rohan Dhingra tie it 32 seconds later. The Elks finished the barrage for a 3-2 lead when Nathan Gottron netted a header after a dead-ball cross. That score held at the half.
Beavers coach Jason Guiliano did not expect the game to start in that fashion.
“No I didn’t,” he said. “I think both teams came out and tried to impose their will early. Both teams took chances and got rewarded with goals. Importantly, not only for our squad, but for Centerville too, you saw how both teams responded when they gave up a goal. No one put their head down or anything like that, it was OK let’s go get the ball to try to get one back.”
The Beavers got the equalizer in the 23rd minute of the second half. It was Cosler who hit the game tying shot after a scramble from a Beavercreek corner kick.
Both teams are to 2-0-1 on the season and with the all GWOC schedule changes will meet again later this month at Centerville. The Beavers visit winless Wayne Thursday.
