The Berkshire Badgers boys’ soccer team knows by now not to take Garfield lightly.
The Badgers held their ground and survived a second-half surge from Garfield, winning 3-1 against their neighborhood county rivals last Thursday evening at Great Lakes Cheese Stadium in Burton.
“My athletic director, Brian Hiscox, mentioned this had been a close rivalry for the last couple of years,” said Badgers’ Coach Oliver Mason. “We have had the edge recently but as we were prepping for the game the boys were saying that even if we are a better team or if they are the better team it is always a close one and it showed on Thursday with an absolutely thrilling affair.”
Since the 2020 season, the Badgers 7-4-2 (2-1-1) are unbeaten against Garfield, having won three of the last four games in addition to one tie.
Although Berkshire has held the edge against the G-Men 2-7-2 (1-4-1), the teams combined for only four goals in the last three contests.
“It’s been close every time too,” said Badgers’ junior midfielder Trent Hornak. “They always come out and play us tough. They out-physical us a lot of the time.”
On Thursday, the game began with a heavy downpour and both teams were slipping and sliding all over the turf field.
The game was scoreless until the end of the first half when Hornak was fouled by a Garfield defender inside the box on a fast break.
Junior midfielder Billy Mooney took the penalty kick and scored inside the 34th minute of play, pushing the Badgers ahead 1-0.
Although the G-Men recorded three shots on goal in the first half, junior goalkeeper Jack Starr kept a clean net and was aided by Berkshire’s back line consisting of juniors Jack Slattery, Noah Valentino and Mooney.
Mooney is the only one of the three Berkshire defenders to have any varsity experience on a squad that graduated nine starters last season, with Hornak and Mooney being the only returnees.
The Badgers’ defense recorded eight shutout victories last year and Berkshire’s new defense has picked up the torch, already recording five shutout victories this season.
“Me being a center back I am incredibly hard on them,” said the Badgers’ first-year coach. “They are doing great with five shutouts and are getting their confidence but they are always improving and I am looking forward to the next year.”
The Badgers struck quickly at the beginning of the second half when Hornak fed a through ball over the middle to junior midfielder Aiden Pollock, who finished the play to propel his team to a 2-0 advantage inside the 42nd minute of regulation.
Garfield did not wither away and stayed aggressive, striking back when senior forward/midfielder Ethan Bittence fired a shot straight at freshman goalkeeper Law Holland inside the middle of the box.
Holland got his hands on the ball but slipped, allowing the ball to slide through his legs, trimming the lead to 2-1 inside the 46th minute of play.
“Even though we need to have our own presence of confidence,” Mason said. “It is also to prevent the other team from getting galvanized again. We could have absolute control over that game but because they got a goal and a glimmer of hope, they thought they could come back.”
Garfield’s physical style of play continued in the second half, fighting for every loose ball but also drawing the ire of the referees leading up to junior forward Ollie May being issued a yellow card.
“I think we just played hard the whole way through,” said Garfield Coach Theo Cebulla. “When you go ahead and hit the ball first, that is not a penalty. Look in the rule book, it is a clean tackle and if the other guy falls down over the ball you just stopped, that is clean.”
Despite the G-Men’s aggressive play, Berkshire kept the lead and ended the game in dramatic fashion when senior John Murphy blocked G-Men junior goalkeeper’s Brody Justice’s goal kick and collected the rebound to score, adding an extra goal to the final score.
The G-Men fell to 2-8-2 losing against Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference foe Jackson-Milton in a crossover game on Monday evening.
Following a road contest against Chagrin Valley Conference foe Madison on Tuesday evening, the Badgers will stay on the road and take on conference foe Geneva at the SPIRE Institute on Thursday at 7 p.m., then take on CVC Valley Division foe Crestwood on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jack Lambert Stadium in Mantua.
After hosting MVAC Grey Division foe Newton Falls on Wednesday, Garfield will welcome John F. Kennedy to JAG Field on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.
