Rams lose heartbreaker in overtime
Darnell Graham
Ringgold’s Christian Egan (13) dribbles through Indiana’s Aaron McKelvy (5) and Edward Chandler (23) during Saturday’s WPIAL Class AAA boys first round soccer match at Belle Vernon’s James Weir Stadium.
Ringgold's Jackson O'Conner (10) maintains control of the ball after Indiana's Edward Chandler (23) made a play on the ball during Saturday's WPIAL Class AAA boys first round soccer match at Belle Vernon's James Weir Stadium.
Ringgold's Jackson O'Conner (10) and Indiana's Aaron McKelvy battle for control of the ball during Saturday's WPIAL Class AAA boys first round soccer match at Belle Vernon's James Weir Stadium.
ROSTRAVER TWP. — A controversial call inside the box gave Indiana a penalty kick in overtime, and the Indians’ Sergio Lopez Hernandez scored for a 1-0 victory over Ringgold in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA boys soccer playoffs on Saturday at Belle Vernon Area’s James Weir Stadium.
Hernandez’s shot went to the upper left-hand corner past Rams keeper Travis Yahnite at 7:43.
“That was a ridiculous call,” Ringgold coach Steve Persaud said. “How does a man on the 50-yard line make a call, a push in the back, and there are two referees in the 18-yard box and they don’t call it? I was closer to the call than him. I don’t know how he saw it from 50 yards away.”
Ringgold had Indiana (12-7-0) in trouble but couldn’t get the ball past Matt Conjelko.
“Ringgold had us on the ropes,” Indiana coach Todd Myers said. “The first half was a very evenly played game, but the second half we did not play as well, and we got very lucky in the second half. Our defense and our goalie have been solid all year.”
“We had 80 minutes to win the game and we didn’t, and they did,” Persaud said. “That is all part of the game. At the end of the day, we should have won the game in regular time. We let them go to overtime and we lost. I didn’t do a good job of preparing my guys.”
Ringgold (11-5-2) had five shots on goal in the second half and the Indians had one.
The Rams had chances in the 34th, 33rd and 31st minutes but one shot was stopped by Conjelko, one was wide and a corner kick didn’t produce any significant chance. Ringgold had five corners in the second.
The Rams’ Eli Schoedel had a chance that was stopped in the 20th minute, and another corner kick didn’t produce a shot on net in the 18th minute.
Indiana almost put a shot in its own net in the 11th minute, but the ball was cleared.
The Rams had shots not make it on goal in the 9th and 3rd minutes.
Neither team scored in the first, but Ringgold had five shots on goal and the Indians put two on net.
The Rams had a chance in the 25th minute, but the shot was wide.
Hernandez had a run in the 17th, but his shot was wide. Teammate Joshua Glaser was stopped by Yahnite in the 13th minute.
Schoedel had a run in the 11th minute, but Conjelko came out to challenge before the Indians’ backline cleared. Schoedel took a feed from Kobe Norfleet in the 9th minute, but Conjelko made the save.
The Rams outshot the Indians, 10-3, and had a 6-0 edge in corner kicks. Conjelko made 10 saves and Yahnite three.
“We just didn’t play well today, bottom line,” Persaud said. “We could play 10 times better than we played today. I thought they were ready to play today but they weren’t.”