The Crestwood Red Devils boys’ soccer team may finally be over the hump.
Crestwood continued rebounding from a difficult stretch of play, beating Portage County rival Garrettsville Garfield 3-1 last Saturday afternoon at Jack Lambert Stadium in Mantua.
“We are definitely starting to get our mojo back,” said Red Devils’ Coach Eric Sway. “We did schedule some difficult teams in the first half of the season. Being 4-4-0 in the first half was a good start for us and we broke the season down into two halves. To start the second half of the season we are 2-0 and things are looking pretty good.”
Despite being Portage County foes, Crestwood (6-4-0, 2-1-0) and the G-Men do not often see each other in very many sports because they belong to different conferences. The Red Devils are members of the Chagrin Valley Conference and Garfield plays in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference – Grey Division.
One of the few sports the two sides compete in is soccer and according to the second-year Red Devils’ coach, that rivalry was reignited when Crestwood ousted the G-Men (2-2-2, 1-1-1) in the Division III sectional championship last season.
“We knew they would want to avenge that loss,” he said. “We had a plan and we executed the plan, greatly especially in the first 15 minutes of the game.”
Crestwood struck first when Junior midfielder Elijah Jurisch, the team’s leading scorer this season, scored on a kick from the top of the box off an assist from sophomore forward Kyle Shelhamer in the 12th minute of regulation, giving the Red Devils a 1-0 advantage.
Jurisch continued pestering Garfield’s defense, scoring his second goal by applying pressure to G-Men junior goalkeeper Brody Justice when he tried to collect a loose ball.
Jurisch forced Justice to fumble the ball and followed up with the rebound inside the 17th minute mark of play, propelling Crestwood ahead 2-0.
“It was great,” said Jurisch. “I felt great. I’m coming off of a little bit of a groin issue and I rested for about a week and did not know how I would do but I came out and I just played pretty well and was pretty happy about that performance.”
Having graduated leading scorer Jayden Julian last season, Jurisch has followed up from an impressive sophomore campaign to become the focal point of the Red Devils’ attack this year.
“He means everything to the team,” Sway said. “He is the engine to the car. Without Elijah, we are not going and we would not be able to score goals and be able to create and have other players score goals.”
Garfield responded when senior forward/midfielder Ethan Bittence’s throw-in from the sideline went off of the fingertips of senior goalkeeper Charlie Schweikert and dropped in, trimming the Red Devils’ lead to 2-1 in the 29th minute of regulation.
Ultimately, that was all of the offense Garfield could muster against the Red Devils and despite recording four shots on target in the second half, Schweickert kept a clean net.
“Our spacing was poor,” acknowledged G-Men Coach Theo Cebulla. “We have to get our infielders in the middle instead of not getting up and not getting back. There is a big giant gap in the field.”
Crestwood added one more goal when Jurisch booted a free kick into the net from the far left corner of the box inside the 49th minute of play, extending its lead to 3-1.
The Red Devils’ defense preserved the lead, keeping Bittence, Garfield’s top player, away from the action by constantly marking him with a single defender.
Despite both programs being in Division III, Crestwood had more depth with four reserve players compared to only two substitutes for the G-Men,
After a surprising 11-win season in 2022, the Red Devils are aiming higher, having returned ten of their 11 starters from last year.
“Last year four or five wins was my goal but we had 11,” Sway said. “We had 12 players and one sub last year. This year by losing a top scorer in Jayden Julian, I knew there would be a drop-off but how much of a drop-off? We did not know so we set a realistic goal of being .500 but we are 6-4-0 right now and we are looking good.”
Garfield fell to 2-3-1 on the season, losing 3-2 against MVAC rival Waterloo in crossover game on Monday.
Following a home game against CVC Valley Division foe Berkshire on Tuesday, Crestwood will welcome Bedford for a non-conference clash on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, after a home contest against MVAC Grey Division rival Champion on Wednesday, the G-Men will face conference foe Liberty on Sep. 25 at Leopard Stadium in Youngstown.
