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September 20, 2012

Conneaut falls during Region 1 clash

By Lisa Byers Meadville Tribune

LINESVILLE — Conneaut and Mercer haven’t been in the same region for very long.

But the Eagles entered their Region 1 boys soccer showdown against the Mustangs with a bit of a chip on their shoulders.

See, this spring members from both teams met on the field during travel season. And following that game, Mercer made the prediction that during the fall high school season it would beat the Eagles 16-0, according to Conneaut head coach Alan Wise.

So going into Wednesday’s contest at Conneaut Area Senior High, the Eagles had a couple of goals. They wanted to prove the Mustangs wrong of their earlier theory and improve upon their unbeaten record and maintain their position atop the Region 1 standings.

The Eagles accomplished one of those feats.

Chase Hoffman scored in the first half off an assist by Will Juergens with what wound up being the lone goal Mercer would need as the Mustangs topped Conneaut 2-0.

Conneaut fell to 4-1-1 overall and 1-1 in Region 1 with the loss. Mercer improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the region. The shutout was Mercer goal keeper Alan Rabold’s sixth of the season.

“We give them too much respect,” Wise said. “They deserve the respect they have because they’re a good team, but the first 10 minutes they’re up on their bench arguing and whatever. So we took it to them for 10 minutes and then don’t ask me why, but we backed off.”

After that first 10 minutes, Mercer grabbed control and had possession on its end of the field for much of the final 70 minutes. It was the play of the Eagles’ defense led by Thomas Mullen and goalie Nick Stockton that kept Conneaut in the game.

“It’s nice to respect a team,” Wise said, “But you play the game aggressively. We aren’t as aggressive as we need to be at times and that kind of showed.”

Hoffman gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute of the opening half. Zachary Kroll’s inbound throw was near the net and as Stockton came out to scoop the ball, Hoffman sailed a shot past him into the right corner of the goal.

Conneaut had gone into the game unsure that Hoffman, the reigning Region 1 Player of the Year, would even be playing. Hoffman suffered a torn meniscus a week ago and was scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday. But the junior and his family opted to postpone surgery until the end of the season.

Hoffman’s goal wound up being the lone goal of the first half. Conneaut had its best shot at tying the contest just a minute into the second half, but Tanner Houck’s shot was just wide to the right.

Mercer put the game away in the 50th minute on a 25-yard boot by Matt Juergens.

“It was a big win in sorts,” Mercer coach Ryan Hoffman said. “We go into a game with a target on our back because we’re the two-time defending region champs.

“We have to keep the guys motivated going into every game. In our region, Conneaut has obviously stepped up. We played them through the spring and we knew what they had coming back. Our region is tough as far as spread out with good teams.”

The key for Conneaut now is putting Wednesday’s loss behind it and focusing on its next task, which happens to be a rematch with county rival and non-region foe Saegertown today at French Creek Valley Christian School.

Conneaut handed the Panthers their first loss of the year on Sept. 10 in the final 25 seconds with a goal by Tyler Bone.

“It’s only one game out of 18,” Wise said of the Mercer contest. “I’m positive. We have a game (today) against Saegertown and we need to get back on the winning track.”

Mercer had just six shots on goal for the game. Conneaut was limited to one.

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