Match photos click here.
For the second year in a row, the Kenston Bombers boys soccer team has won the WRC Title.
In order to win this year, the Bombers needed to defeat their rival, the Chardon Hilltoppers, Oct. 8 at Kenston Stadium.
The home team scored off a corner kick in the 48th minute after a scoreless first half.
That would be the only goal the Bombers would need, as a 1-0 final score earned them the WRC Title.
In the weeks leading up to the match, Kenston Head Coach Michael Coney said his team was playing excellent soccer.
In fact, Coney called the Aug. 29 match against Lake Catholic’s Cougars the turning point of the season.
Although the Bombers lost 5-1 to the Cougars, one of the top teams in the state, they outscored the Cougars in the second half.
Gaining confidence from that second half, the Bombers have been unbeaten since Sept. 7 and compiled a 7-0-3 record.
Kenston has achieved success this season by focusing on playing possession soccer — and against the Hilltoppers, the Bombers did not change their approach.
“Coming in, the main game plan was kind of like what it always is,” Coney said. “We possess through the middle. We’re a high possession team; our midfield is our strength. We want to get the ball out to the wings through the midfield, go outside to inside to outside, and then look to drive in.”
In the first half, Coach Coney said Chardon did not allow the Bombers to execute their game plan optimally, defending the Bombers’ midfielders in particular.
But in the second half, the Bombers made a tactical adjustment to drop a midfielder back to better help maintain possession, he said.
“We played a little more over the top (in the second half) to try to put them under duress,” Coney said.
After the adjustment, the Bombers scored early in the second half off a corner kick to take their 1-0 lead.
Coach Coney said that it was nice to see the Bombers score in this fashion since they have not scored many goals this season on set plays or corner kicks.
“It was great to finally get one on a corner kick,” he said. “We’ve only got a couple this year, we had zero last year.”
After the game, Josh Koltas talked about scoring the game-winning goal.
“Grady (Flynn), one of our senior captains, he played a really nice corner ball to the front post,” Koltas said. “I was on the keeper and I just put it in, I tapped it in front of him.”
Two days after winning the WRC title, Kenston ended its regular season with an 8-0 victory over the Benedictine Bengals.
Leading the Bombers against the Bengals were Andrew DiBernardo (7 points – 3 goals, 1 assist), Grady Flynn (6 points – 2 goals, 2 assists), Aiden Caspell (4 points – 2 goals), Ethan Gaskin (2 points – 1 goal), Jack Purcell (2 assists), Aidan Insana (1 point – 1 assist), and Ryan Flynn (1 point – 1 assist).
Although the Hilltoppers did not win the conference title, they also had an excellent season, compiling a 13-3-1 record. Coming into the game, they’d been unbeaten (12-0-1) since Aug. 22.
Leading Chardon this season were Anthony Cantania (38 points – 15 goals, 8 assists), Evan Medved (25 points – 10 goals, 5 assists), Alex Monkiewicz (16 points – 7 goals, 2 assists), Dylan Schneier (16 points – 4 goals, 8 assists), David Williams (12 points – 5 goals, 2 assists), Andrew St. James (12 points – 3 goals, 6 assists), Will Monkiewicz (7 points – 3 goals, 1 assist), Conner Foley (5 points – 2 goals, 1 assist), Luke Vucetic (5 points – 2 goals, 1 assist), and Ivan Medved (3 points – 3 assists).
The Bombers would next hosted the Nordonia Knights in the first round of the OHSAA Division III Playoffs on Oct. 16, as Chardon hosts the Copley Senior Indians.
