So far this season, the Ravenna Ravens boys’ soccer team has experienced only two outcomes, winning or losing-in shutout fashion. It was the former last Saturday afternoon when the Ravens snapped their four-match losing streak by defeating Niles McKinley 2-0 at Portage Community Bank Stadium’s Gilcrest Field.
“I think for us it was just a matter of settling down and playing the game we know how to play,” said Coach Eric Hedge. “It was a big win on Saturday. We needed it. We had a stretch of four winnable games. We did not win and for them to come and play like that to get the win on Saturday was big for their sake.”
After a disappointing 2023 season in which the Ravens (3-4-0, 1-2-0) posted a 1-17-0 record, they already have exceeded their win total by winning the first two matches of the season. After that, the Ravens endured a four-match losing streak and were outscored by a 12-5 margin.
According to the first-year coach, the skid magnified Ravenna’s most glaring weakness, which was their inability to score goals. Even when the Ravens won their first two matches of the season, they only scored three goals in that span.
“That has been our problem all year –scoring goals,” he said. “We do not have a true forward, so it has been a ragtag bunch of different formations trying to figure it out and we are just missing that one piece. It has been tough on the kids if you are not scoring but luckily, we have a really strong defense.”
On Saturday, the teams’ defenses dominated the first half as neither side scored as each team recorded three shots on goal.
The stalemate continued in the second half until senior midfielder Chauncy Walton collected a rebound off his own blocked shot and buried it, breaking the tie and pushing Ravenna ahead 1-0 in the 52nd minute of regulation.
“It meant a lot to me,” Walton acknowledged. “This was my first actual regular season score. I have had some in the preseason, but this meant a lot to me, and my family was up there watching.”
Senior goalkeeper Lincoln Hedge said that as soon as Walton scored the go-ahead goal, the defensive third understood its assignment to preserve that lead until the end of regulation.
“I talked to them right after,” Lincoln noted. “I was like ‘We have to nail it down back here’. Sophomore center backs Jack Rainone and Terrill Strickland are two of the finest center backs in our conference and they locked it down.”
The Dragons pestered Ravenna’s defensive third consistently to even up the score, recording seven shots on goal in the second half but the Ravens’ senior goalkeeper was up to the task and tallied 10 saves in the match.
“It’s nothing different,” Lincoln said. “It is stuff I have dealt with before and as a keeper you just embrace it. It is pressure and you cannot let it get to you as a keeper.”
In addition to Ravenna’s stout defense, the Ravens added an insurance goal when sophomore Stephen Presley bodied the ball into the net off of a header by Walton in the 72nd minute, pushing the lead to 2-0.
With Lincoln keeping a clean net, the Ravens soared to their first home victory and third shutout win of the season, marking the most shutout victories since the 2022 season when the squad posted six.
With nine returnees from last year’s starting 11, Ravenna’s newest starters make up its defensive third in freshman Ryan Kelley and senior Brennen Goodwin.
According to Coach Hedge, the newly formed defensive line has not slowed down the Ravens thus far, evidenced by the three shutout victories this season.
“I attribute it to the fact that we have Terrill and Jack in the middle,” he added. “That really organizes things; they played together last year as freshmen, they are only sophomores and that really excites me moving forward.”
Although Ravenna has been on the wrong end of three shutout losses this season, Walton said that the team’s aggressive nature is a testament to also recording three shutout victories at the same time.
“We don’t have the same skill level that other teams do,” he said. “But we get through that by passion and just playing super aggressive and super hard–just wanting the ball more than everyone else.”
Following a home match against Metro Athletic Conference rival Streetsboro on Tuesday evening and another home match against conference foe Norton on Thursday night, the Ravens will welcome Canton McKinley to Portage Community Bank Stadium’s Gilcrest Field on Saturday morning beginning at 11 a.m.
