By Cort Reynolds
TIFFIN – The Ada High School boys soccer team led 2-0 but ended up falling 3-2 to league rival Riverdale in a Div. V district semifinal nailbiter Tuesday, October 22, at Frost-Kalnow Stadium.
Second-seeded Ada ends its season 14-5 after the heartbreaking defeat.
Third-seeded Riverdale improved to 10-7-2 with the win, and advanced to the district finals at Tiffin Saturday evening vs. Mansfield Christian.
The fourth-seeded MC Flames blanked top seed Bluffton 2-0 in the first semifinal Tuesday evening, thus both lower-seeded teams won.
“Tonight was a tough one,” said first-year Ada head coach Aaron Acheson. “It was a disappointing finish to a great season. We competed against a good team. I am excited Ada had the opportunity to play a district semifinal tournament game.
“We took some big steps this season,” he added. The Bulldogs improved from four wins last year to 14 this season.
Riverdale standout Will Clark scored all three Falcon goals in impressive fashion. “Will Clark’s goals were phenomenal,” said Acheson. “No keeper was going to be able to save those shots. Riverdale had good combinations on their attack.”
Ada sophomore Andrew Allen started the scoring just 6:05 into the contest on a 25-yard goal that gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
At the 25:40 mark of the first half, Logan Jolliff received an Allen through ball on the left side and knocked it around the Falcon keeper into the net to put the Bulldogs on top, 2-0.
Riverdale senior ace Will Clark scored the first of his three goals on an assist from freshman Cameron Snook at the 17:53 mark to cut the Ada lead in half, 2-1.
“Snook made a good move from the outside and executed a nice cutback to a running Clark on their first goal,” Acheson explained. “Clark finished a nice one-touch goal.”
A few minutes later, the Falcon duo combined on the tying goal.
Snook passed a through ball to Clark on the right side, and he found the back of the net again with 13:31 left in the first half to equalize the score, 2-2.
The game stayed tied at 2-2 into the intermission break.
With 30:50 remaining to play, Clark banged a 30-yard blast off the right post into the net to put the Falcons ahead for the first time, 3-2.
“Will was the difference-maker,” admitted Acheson. “Got to give him credit for making some big-time shots. His second and third shots were on a rope.”
Ada senior Nathan Williams launched a free kick that nipped the crossbar but went awry with 2:15 left to play.
Riverdale was able to hang on and preserve the one-goal margin to win. The potent Bulldogs were unable to score over the final 65 minutes.
“We needed to be a little more balanced in our attack,” said Acheson. “We played direct and vertical a lot. There were times I felt we could have moved the ball more side-to-side, and played the ball out in the wide channels more to create gaps for some through balls on the turf.
“We were rushing at points in the game,” he continued. “We will learn and get better in time.”
The Falcons put 10 shots on goal, while Ada fired eight on target. Bulldog sophomore Jacob Rush came up with seven saves, while the Riverdale keeper made six stops.
Ada earned three corner kicks to one by the Falcons.
The Bulldogs booted eight direct kicks, while Riverdale had 10.
Senior Jolliff tallied his 31st goal of the season in his Bulldog finale.
Allen scored once to end up with 24 goals this season, second on the team to Jolliff. Senior Williams tallied 15 goals and a program single-season record 28 assists this fall.
Jolliff also dished out 10 assists this year to end up with 72 points. Williams totaled 58 points. Allen passed out six assists to finish with 54 points.
The Falcons edged the Bulldogs by the identical 3-2 score earlier this season at Riverdale. Clark scored five of the six Riverdale goals in the two games vs. Ada.
“I wanted this season to be the best season for the seniors,” summed up Acheson. “The whole team helped make this happen. We are really going to miss the seniors.
“They have put a lot of work into the program over the last four years. I appreciate everything they did to help me in my first season,” said the coach.
“We have a lot of players coming back next year,” Acheson said. “We will continue to build off of this year. I am excited for the future of the program.”
Seniors Jolliff, Williams, Ty Mowery, Max Puerto and Luke Archer played their final Ada match.
