New Knoxville 5 Temple Christian 1

October 15. 2013
Lima Stadium
OHSAA Lima D 3 Boys Sectional

New Knoxville 5  Temple Christian 1

Statistics in soccer can often be misleading and that would be the case for this contest between the New Knoxville Rangers and the Temple Christian Pioneers.  On a night when the Pioneers registered 11 shots on goal to 6 for New Knoxville it was the Rangers efficiency in finishing that won the day. 

The game was played partially in a light to moderate rain. Thankfully the unseasonably warm temperatures we have been enjoying held throughout the evening making the conditions bearable. With Lima Stadium having a turf field pitch conditions were not a factor. 



I was eager to watch this match as I coach players from both teams during club soccer in the spring. I was especially intrigued to see our starting keeper, Dean Frankenberg of New Knoxville, pitted against our star forward, Taylor Zwiebel of Temple Christian.  Actually I was just hoping Taylor would be sufficiently healed enough from a hamstring injury to be able to take the field for his team.  He was, but it was clear he was no where near 100%.  This could have a huge impact on the game as it is difficult to replace a goal scorer as accomplished as Taylor is.

From the opening whistle Temple Christian set the pace controlling much of the early run of play. New Knoxville seemed content to set back in their 3-5-2 and wait for opportunities to counter attack. This was to be the pattern of play throughout the match.

In the 20th minute of play the Rangers mounted a counter attack down their right flank. Temple freshman DJ Clay came forward to challenge the play only to see the ball deflected to the top of the penalty area from where New Knoxville's Ryan Lageman scored into an open goal providing the Rangers an 1- 0 lead.

The action settled back into Temple possessing the ball and keeping New Knoxville goalkeeper Dean Frankenberg on his toes with an occasional shot on goal. With just over 4 minutes until the half time break the Pioneers were called for a foul in their own penalty area setting the Rangers up for a penalty kick attempt. It would be Lageman who stepped to eh mark and calmly played the ball to his left and past Clay into the net to give New Knoxville a 2 - 0 lead at the half.

In the opening minutes of the second half Temple came out with a sense of urgency and determination in their play. Less than the near miss on one end minutes in they generated their best scoring opportunity to that point of the evening when Taran Zwiebel played a cross in diagonally across the penalty area. Teammate Leon Loevenich narrowly missed running onto the ball for a header. 

The close call seemed to wake the Rangers up and less than three minutes later New Knoxville started a counter attack from their own half of the pitch. Junior midfielder K.V. Mooney claimed the ball 40 yards from goal and immediately attacked on the dribble. As Mooney entered the Pioneers penalty area he struck a shot on goal past Temple goalkeeper Clay to the back post side netting putting New Knoxville up 3 - 0.

That goal seemed to take some of the life out of Pioneers as the Rangers began a run of play where they controlled the midfield action better than they had all evening. The Temple defenders sat back in their defensive third a bit more in an attempt to keep the Rangers attacker in front of them.  The change in strategy seemed to be working until Lageman put matters on his foot once again striking from a distance of 32 yards out. The blast was played diagonally from right to left and hit side netting at the back post giving Lageman a hat trick on the night.

Not to be outdone, teammate K.V. Mooney struck from nearly the same spot six minutes later. Mooney's shot on goal came from about 35 yards out right of the goal and found the net left of center.  Rangers 5 - 0 at this point.

With just over 12 minutes remaining in the match Temple would finally break through and get on the scoreboard. Taran Zwiebel played a cross that teammate Leon Loevenich was able to get a foot on and deflect toward the back post. The ball looked to be going in and Seth Ciminillio left no doubt about it with a one touch volley to finish the play.

I was impressed that both team continued to compete hard  throughout the match. While Temple experienced a bit of a let down at one point they regrouped and continued to attack through the closing whistle. 

For the match Temple Christian generated 11 shots on goal plus an additional 7 shots that missed wide or over the top. Frankenberg had 10 saves for New Knoxville.  The Rangers got of  6 shots on goal and finished on a remarkable 5 of them. They also had 4 other shots that went wide or over the top.  D.J. Clay made 1 save for the Pioneers.

Congratulations to the Rangers who move on to play at Kalida on October 22, 2013 against an opponent to be determined.