Central Clarion Wildcats Boys Soccer Team Downs Karns City 5-0 For Fourth Consecutive Shut Out

Photos by Matt Lerch – Above: Mason Gourley

(Matt Lerch)

The Central Clarion Wildcats Boys Soccer team entered the evening’s game on Tuesday, September 3rd at Clarion Limestone’s field against Karns City with a 3-0 record and three shut outs. The Karns City Gremlins have virtually always had the upper hand with an unblemished record against Clarion. The Wildcats decided to take one away from the Gremlins in a Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference showdown by winning 5-0 as the sun was setting on the field and into the evening.

One of the major strengths of the Wildcats offense is they can strike at any time and from any angle. The quick strike of the Wildcats was as soon as the ball was kicked, Striker Martin Ormeno came out of his position, as a sprinter out of the blocks, and stole the ball from the Gremlins defense. Ormeno slid a pass to Midfielder standout Thomas Uckert who shot and hit the post. As the Gremlin goalie was clearing the ball, he kicked the ball out of the goalie box creating a penalty kick for Uckert. With the wall of Gremlin defenders set, Uckert’s kick went over the wall to the top right corner of the goal as the goalkeeper made a valiant effort to stop the ball. The score was 1-0 and Karns City made a quick strike of their own with a bullet shot on Wildcats goalkeeper Isaac Lerch who made the stop.

The second goal of the contest came as hard working left wing Brenden Bettwy negotiated a kick into the goalmouth of Karns City with right wing Wyatt Boyden finding the back of the net making the score 2-0. A third opportunity for the Wildcats materialized when Bettwy shot on goal with the goalie making the save, but was then out of position. The ball rebounded out of the goalie’s hands when center midfielder Dany Schweitzer took another shot on goal without the goalkeeper only to be stopped by a fullback … Another potential goal was stopped when Uckert had another penalty kick opportunity only to be stopped by the Gremlin defense.

The momentum was obviously still in the Wildcats’ favor when Schweitzer performed a give-and-go play in the front left corner of the field with Uckert being the intermediary. Schweitzer took the pass back from Uckert sliding the ball past the goalie making the score 3-0. Wildcat goalie Lerch had to contend with a couple of corner kicks but the shots were benign or never made it to his hands. A fastbreak fashioned by Uckert off a failed corner kick found a speeding Bettwy who crossed a pass to Boyden but he was stopped by the sound defense. Lerch was challenged again for a second save of the first half before the whistle blew.

With the score 3-0 at the beginning of the second half, the Wildcats kept harassing the Gremlins defense but couldn’t penetrate to the goal. Lerch saved a corner kick calling off his defenders for the ball. The Gremlins shot on Lerch again but the kick had little steam. Boyden took a pass from defender Brady Pierce, marched up field with the ball and made a stunt 360 degree ball handling move that created gasps in the stands. To no avail, the Gremlins defenders closed in again to stop the advance.

Lerch was against the wall for the first time with a penalty against Clarion, with defenders making a wall. The ball sailed wide right keeping the score 3-0. Time and time again the Gremlins advanced the ball but the Wildcats defense refused to yield. Uckert then found another scoring possibility only to be stopped by a spectacular slide save by the freshman Gremlin goalie.

Those who think defenders are not good on offense would be surprised at the next play. Fullback Pierce started the zigzag play from his own end of the field shooting the ball up field to Boyden who made an astounding crossfield pass to Bettwy who shot and made the score 4-0 for the first score of the second half. The contest was far from over when a Gremlin striker shot on Lerch only to see the ball sail over the goal. Schweitzer passed to midfielder Ky Clark who advanced on the left side of the goal. Clark tried to shoot but was closed in on by two defenders.

Clark started the next attack by finding Ormeno who passed to Nathan Frederick who shot and scored making the game 5-0. With less than 5 minutes left in the game, the shut out was at hand. Once again, the Wildcats were challenged by the incredibly resilient Gremlin offense. Defender Mason Gourley was challenged on the left side several times, making great maneuvers to keep the ball out of the Wildcats’ side of the field. His biggest challenge came when their equally sized right wing collided with Gourley with the outcome in Wildcats’ favor as Gourley popped up to make a pass upfield.

The game was almost over when Lerch made another save for the Wildcats. Defenders Jason Megnin and Carter Brown had to make a last second stop on another Gremlin advance. Soon after, Megnin made another stop so Lerch wouldn’t be shot upon. Lerch made one more save and the contest ended with the Wildcats advancing their record to 4-0, all shut outs.

The Wildcats meet another KSAC rival, the Forest Fires, to be played at the North Clarion Field Thursday at 4PM.

(Good match, Wildcats!!!! Thanks to Matt Lerch for the article and photos!!)

*** Clarion Sports Zone note: Thursday’s (September 5th) match is part of a Boys and Girls double-header, which is a big fundraiser for North Clarion athlete Grace Carroll, who is battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The Forest Fires Girls Soccer team is hosting the event.

The boys will be playing at 4:00 pm and the girls will play at 6:00 pm. There will be concessions sold, as well as a donation table for Miss Carroll’s benefit. ***