Allen breaks tie with 10 ticks left
By Cort Reynolds
ADA __ Well-positioned Bulldog sophomore Andrew Allen netted a rebound shot from the left doorstep of the goal with just 10 seconds left to lift the Ada High School boys soccer team to a thrilling 4-3 win over visiting Miller City (MC) on a warm evening, August 28, at War Memorial Stadium.
The Bulldogs led 3-1 for much of the second half before MC put on a late rally and scored twice, with 8:51 and 3:19 remaining, to equalize the hard-fought battle at 3-3.
It looked like the game was going to end in a tie. But on a final run, Ada senior Nathan Williams created an opening and curled a 25-yard shot toward the lower left post with under 15 seconds left.
The Wildcat keeper blocked the shot but wasn’t able to secure the severely hooking shot. The ball caromed to his right where an opportunistic Allen had planted himself to cash in on the winning rebound goal.
“It was wild, crazy and so much fun,” said happy Ada head coach Aaron Acheson. “Andrew hunted for the rebound, he was right there and he finished.
“We really played well enough to deserve the win. We dug deep, showed grit and showed a lot of will to win,” he summed up. “We battled to the very end. The players weren’t going to settle for a tie.”
Ada improved to 4-1 with the exciting victory. The Wildcats, ranked eighth in Div. V, fell to 3-1 after their first loss of the season.
MC scored the game’s first goal with 26:10 left in the first half. “We didn’t dip our heads after they scored, and we responded well.”
But at the 22:24 mark, speedy Ada senior Logan Jolliff made a nice run up the left sideline, then veered to the center of the field before blasting a shot into the left corner of the net to knot it up 1-1.
Ada keeper Jacob Rush made a nice save at the 19:40 mark. A long side throw in was caught by Rush a minute later. A Bulldog shot in the 24th minute was stopped.
Jolliff’s quality shot went wide right with 10:10 left in the half. Ada rifled a shot over the goal five minutes before intermission. Two minutes later, Rush made a save.
Then Ada scored on some more late-half magic. Senior Max Puerto headed Allen’s right corner kick into the net with just seven seconds left in the half to give the Bulldogs momentum and a 2-1 lead going to the break.
“That was a great response,” said Acheson. “Max showed great desire to go get that ball out of the air. Carson Conley won a key ball right before the corner to make that goal possible.”
Ninety seconds into half two, Williams stole a pass deep in MC territory and fired a shot that was saved by the Wildcat goalkeeper.
With 34:31 left, Jolliff netted his second goal. He outran the defense up the left side, touched the ball ahead to himself past a defender, then drilled a shot from 16 yards out past the keeper to provide a 3-1 margin.
Williams just missed extending the lead to 4-1 when his 17-yard shot curved into the left outside part of the goal netting with 23:55 to go. Evan Miller’s long shot was on goal 30 seconds later, and the goalie bobbled the shot before deflecting it away.
With 18:48 remaining Puerto lofted a good ball to Allen, whose left side shot was saved nicely. Chase Jarrett’s right side blast with 14:13 to go was stopped again by MC.
Jolliff then led an excellent pass to Josh Thaxton, who one-timed a midair shot with his right leg. But the Wildcat keeper made a diving save to prevent a pretty goal and keep the margin at two with 12:14 left.
A desperate MC squad then turned up the offensive pressure. A corner kick sailed way too far with 10 minutes left. Just over a minute later, a loose ball scrum in front of the Ada net ultimately ended up in a Wildcat goal with 8:51 remaining to inch within 3-2.
A long throw in by MC hit the left side post at the 6:51 mark. Rush saved a long direct kick with 4:18 left.
MC then finally cashed in on one of their exceptionally long side throw-in plays.
“Their throw-ins are a real weapon and a hard ball to read,” said Acheson. “We were lucky not to touch two of those throw-ins that went in the net.”
The long throw-in bounced close to the Ada net amid a crowd, and was knocked in from about four yards out on the right side to tie it 3-3 with just 3:19 remaining.
“You could really feel the momentum swinging back on a pendulum their way,” said Acheson. “But our resolve was great.”
Allen chested out a Wildcat corner kick with one minute left before his last-gasp heroics, with an assist from the crafty Williams, won it for Ada.
“The curve on Nate’s last shot, with his foot motion, made it hard to handle,” Acheson agreed. “We played with a desire and a rage to score. It’s all about hunger and how bad you want it.”
Ada sophomore Rush made five saves in goal. “Jacob made a couple unbelievable saves with diving stops,” said the Bulldog coach.
The Wildcat goals were scored by Henry Rump, Beau Reyna and Brandon Reynolds. Wes Tobe passed out one assist.
“Jude Griffin and Ty Mowery were very good at center-back,” Acheson offered. “Chase Jarrett gave us good minutes.”
Ada plays at Van Buren (3-0) Thursday, September 5 in their North Central Ohio Soccer Association opener. It will also be the first Bulldog road match after they played their first five games at home.
A win would already surpass the Ada total of four victories last season when they went 4-8-6.
“Obviously, Van Buren is very good,” Acheson noted. “We still have 12 more games left. It’s a long season.”
