Home Notice Box Sports On Elk hunt, Beavers tie Centerville again

On Elk hunt, Beavers tie Centerville again

0

CENTERVILLE — Much of Thursday night’s boys soccer match at Alumni Stadium between Beavercreek and Centerville could be described as being a matter of contrast. Nearly everything, in fact, other than the final 2-2 score.

A perfect half-moon overhead. The visiting Beavers were clad in white uniforms with black numbers. The Elks in black with white. The two rivals played opposite styles of game as well. While the Elks played a controlled, diverse passing offense, BHS countered with long-ranging passes switching the field, much like a basketball fast break.

“Definitely,” said Coach Jason Guiliano. “We try to do what will work for us in each game. We sat back and tried to counter as much as we could. We noticed that Centerville would push their outside back forward at times and would try to get extra players in the center of the park some of the time, so we tried to shift and run into channels. We tried to get balls down the line and get late runners into the box. I think all of our good opportunities came off of that set.”

Even the goals came at contrasting times. The Beavers scored with less than a minute to play in each half with the Elks tallying two in between. The first goal came after junior forward Aiden Wightman was taken down inside the Elks goal box for a penalty kick. Classmate and co-captain Mitchell Cosler converted the penalty with 55 seconds until halftime.

After the Elks put in two second half shots, it was Wightman for the equalizer with 58 seconds left.

Senior Gibson Ernst started the play in the Elks final third of the field with a perfect feed to Aiden McCarthy. McCarthy’s cross went to Wightman at the far post and his subtle first touch and blistering shot found the net to produce the 2-2 final score.

The two Greater Western Ohio Conference foes tied 3-3 in their first game this season at Beavercreek. There is some symmetry involved with the teams though. Both have won 8 of 10 games. Neither has a loss and of course, there are those two draws.

So much for contrast.

By Matt Goeller

For Greene County News

Matt Goeller is a freelance writer for Greene County News.