The Kenston Bombers boys soccer team now knows what the bar looks like to reach the top of Division II after their season opener Aug. 19 was spoiled.
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The Kenston Bombers boys soccer team now knows what the bar looks like to reach the top of Division II after their season opener Aug. 19 was spoiled.
The loss, 5-2, came on a Saturday afternoon against Revere at Kenston Bombers Stadium in Bainbridge Township.
“We always knew this game was going to be tough,” Kenston Coach Michael Coney said. “Revere every year is a top-end program, and their coach does a great job. Every year they are contending to go to the state championship; last year they made the regional final. I think the score line did not flatter us, and we did not execute very well, and it was definitely a tough opening opponent.”
Coney, a first-year coach, said it was important that his squad, which only rosters five seniors, play against one of the top teams in Division II to experience what some of the best competition has to offer.
His team trailing 3-1 at the start of the second half, Coney thought the game was still within reach for the Bombers (0-0-1, 0-0-0) and that by scoring the next goal, Kenston could flip the momentum in their favor.
But Minutemen senior midfielder Dylan Halm, who scored a pair of goals in the first half, had other ideas.
Halm tallied a hat trick when he scored on a diagonal from the top left corner at the top of the box, off an assist from senior defender Jeff Boyle, stretching Revere’s advantage to 4-1 in the 44th minute of regulation.
It wasn’t over yet.
Kenston responded quickly when junior midfielder Ethan Gaskins scored on a long-distance shot, trimming the lead to 4-2 inside the 48th minute of play.
“We needed a goal, so I decided to play with high pressure,” the Bombers’ junior said. “I ended up winning the ball, and a couple of defenders dove on me, but I got through a couple of guys and the ball ended up coming out in space, and I put it in the side of the net.”
Still, Halm continued wreaking havoc on Kenston’s backline, scoring his fourth goal when he received a cross from Boyle inside the box in the 50th minute for the final score.
Junior defender Ewan Patterson acknowledged his Bomber defense struggled to contain Revere.
“They had a good couple of players,” he said. “I think that is what killed us. They just dribbled around us, and we were diving in. We were not in unison in the back today, and each of us played a good game but we did not play as a team in the back, and they just played through us and scored five.”
Having graduated eight seniors from last season, Kenston now searches for new depth, and Coney said its biggest hurdle will finding new playmakers on offense after graduating two of its top scorers.
“I think we are going to be scoring by committee,” Coney said. “I think we have a lot of guys who have eight or nine goal-seasons in them, and we saw that on Saturday with two goals by two different people. We saw in the preseason and scrimmages that different people were scoring.
“We have a lot of people that can put the ball in the net. This team is built to share the ball and for multiple players to be able to score the ball.”
In the first half, Kenston pushed the ball into its attacking third frequently but could not convert, and Revere took a 1-0 lead when junior Gavin Boltz scored in the 17th minute with a strike from the top of the box.
Revere pushed its lead to 2-0 when Halm scored his first goal on a penalty kick inside the 22nd minute. Kenston trimmed the lead in half when senior midfielder/forward Rex Eberhart tallied a goal on a penalty kick in the 30th minute.
But Halm continued dominating, crossing up a defender with some fancy footwork and scoring again, this time from the top right corner of the box inside the 32nd minute, to extend Revere’s advantage to 3-1.
Following a home contest against Geauga County rival Hawken on Aug. 22 and a road game against neighborhood foe Chagrin Falls on Aug. 24, Kenston will host University School on Aug 29.
