NK keeper racks up 19 saves
By Cort Reynolds
The Ada High School boys soccer team defeated visiting New Knoxville in a tough 2-1 battle Monday, August 19 at War Memorial Stadium.
All goals were made in the first half. The match was scoreless in half two as the teams battled to the very end.
The Bulldogs controlled play for the first 35 minutes of the second half, but NK put on a desperation attack in the final five minutes. However, the Rangers were unable to equalize against the Ada defense.
The Bulldogs improved to 2-0 with the hard-fought win. NK dropped to 0-1 after the loss in their opener.
“I am very proud, it was a team victory,” said new Bulldog head coach Aaron Acheson. “We were gritty and tough, and played through adversity. We were resilient.”
Ada senior Nathan Williams scored the first goal eight minutes into the game off a throw-in.
Bulldog junior Joshua Thaxton then netted the second Ada goal on a loose ball with 18 minutes left in the first half to give the hosts a 2-0 lead. “He was a fox in the box and showed great touch inside the six,” Acheson noted.
The NK goal by Carson Lammers came off a nice save and rebound shot by Jay Schroeder to cut the Bulldog lead to 2-1.
Ada put a shot on goal 87 seconds into half two, but it was stopped by NK keeper Preston Rutschilling. Ada sophomore Carson Conley fired a right side shot at the 37:30 mark on goal but the keeper snared it.
A Williams corner kick at 34:30 was saved. Ada keeper Jacob Rush made a stop at the 33:45 point. Just 32 ticks later, he leaped to grab a left side rocket with a nice save.
Williams launched a nice shot with 25:25 left only to see it sail just wide left. About 90 seconds later he made a nice run, but his shot went just over the goal. At the 23:34 mark, he lifted another shot wide.
A Ranger shot with 20:14 sailed wide. Just 14 seconds later, Rush made a nice sliding save of an NK shot to his right.
A Williams shot at the 18:50 mark barely missed as it went over the crossbar. Twenty seconds later, his corner kick was headed off the far post by Andrew Allen, just missing a third goal.
A Ranger blast was sent wide and high over the net at the 11:44 juncture.
Rutschilling came up with a diving save of a low Ada shot with 7:55 remaining. Rutschilling then launched a long goal kick to a streaking teammate, but he was called offside with 3:33 left.
An NK corner kick was headed around three times before being cleared by Ada with 90 seconds remaining.
In the final moments NK pulled its keeper upfield on offense. Williams corralled a loose ball, saw the net yawning wide-open and booted a 70-yard shot on line that was headed toward a goal.
But Rutschilling sprinted back, dove at the last instant and kicked the rolling ball away just as it was about to cross the goal line. Just 11 seconds remained after his great effort, and the Bulldogs earned a corner kick.
Ada got off a final shot on goal with a second to go, but Rutschilling tipped it over the crossbar as time expired. The NK keeper ended up with 19 saves. Rush was credited with seven saves.
“That keeper is a good keeper, to get two goals on him and win is big,” said Acheson. “Jacob Rush had some huge saves for us. Evan Miller played a good game defensively for us, he showed great effort.
“Ty Mowery played well, and Wyatt Fisher played well in relief,” he added. “Daniel Klear had some great vertical balls, he has a great left foot.”
Ada earned six corners and five direct kicks.
Ada hosts Bath Thursday evening at 7 p.m., preceded by the JV game at 5. “Bath has a pretty good keeper,” said Acheson.
Ada then entertains backyard rival Allen East (0-1) Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
