Buckeye Valley boys soccer coach Eric Staley found out pretty early that there’d be no cheap goals scored in Wednesday’s non-league contest against Beechcroft.
Staley knew his goalies Cole Davis and Jack Scheeler don’t tend to give up the easy ones.
Beechcroft goalkeeper Andrew Zigarevich stopped a close-range shot from BV’s Eli Aquino in the 12th minute to hold steady.
And none of three involved blinked the rest of the way as the team’s played to a scoreless tie.
“We knew (Zigarevich) was solid,” Staley said. “We weren’t going to beat him with a softy. We weren’t too concerned about (Beechcroft) getting a soft one. It was a good, fairly evenly-matched game overall.”
Beechcroft made the BV defense work. Junior Najib Abdisalan provided pressure all game long with six shots on goal and a few others that narrowly missed.
“He was first team All-City last year and he was our only returning starter this year,” Beechcroft coach Derek Hone said. “His athleticism has always been better than average. But, his soccer I.Q. … he understands the game.”
“We didn’t want to shadow him the whole game because they have enough guys that can hurt us,” Staley said.
BV defender Aspen Schneller slid to knock the ball away from Abdisalan in the 54th minute. It looked like a one-on-one play between Abdisalan and the goalie Scheeler before Schneller close fast and slid to knock the ball away.
“Aspen and Charlie (Daily) both give us good size and speed,” Staley said. “We took advantage of that with their through-balls. They’ve been solid all year … that’s why we’ve only given up 15 (goals all season). The defense has certainly been a strength.”
Davis made five saves in the first half and Scheeler stopped three in the second in relief for the Barons (6-4-2).
It gave BV a boost of momentum as Bryan Perrine got a good look from close range on the right. But, Zigarevich made the save to keep it scoreless.
Zigarevich made four saves for the Cougars (3-5-2).
“I liked the way we played in the first half,” Hone said. “The reality is that I think our fitness and our depth showed in the second.”
Next up, BV continues non-league play with a trip to Mount Vernon Saturday, which is set to start at 11:30 a.m.
MEN’S SOCCER
Adam and Matt Yingling scored less than thee minutes apart to give the Ohio Wesleyan men’s soccer team a 2-0 first-half lead it parlayed into a 4-0 non-conference win over visiting Thomas More Wednesday at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.
Dom Calabrese and Will Sharer, who scored his first goal of the season on a penalty kick at the 41:53 mark of the first half, smoothed out the scoring summary.
JP Baughman had three saves to anchor the OWU defense.
FIELD HOCKEY
Ohio Wesleyan 5, Wittenberg 4
