Generals stun Yellow Jackets - Black's game-winner with 6:42 remaining in match sends AW to second straight regional final

Toledo - Anthony Wayne senior Evan Black came up big for the Generals at the right time - the midfielder finished a one-time ball from senior winger Jacob Bores with 6:42 remaining in the match to give the Generals' a 1-0 win and their second trip to the regional final. "I'm at a loss for words" humbly said Black - the Generals came out as aggressors in the first half of the match seeing a lot of opportunity in front of the Perrysburg. Anthony Wayne senior midfielder Zach Harris thought he saw a shot that he placed across the mouth of goal hit the far-post bar and bounce back to the hands of senior Yellow Jackets goalkeeper Kyle Rowan - but more drama was to come. Both teams would see goals get called back midway through the second half; Perrysburg's Matt Nordhaus thought his flicked header was going in the back of the net until senior winger Kyle Wyrick poked the ball over the head of Generals goalkeeper junior Brendan Vaughn when the assistant referee called Wyrick for being in an offside position before the ball was flicked to him, and then the Generals' Black would see his shot that was nicely placed to the nearpost called back due to him being in an offside position. Moments later Black would redeem himself in a big way to give the team the game-winner. "It's stressful this time of year" said Anthony Wayne head coach Brian Billings "But I thought we defended well and created the opportunities we needed and finished on the one that mattered the most". Anthony Wayne (12-6-2) advance to Sandusky Perkins H.S. saturday afternoon where they will face off with the number one team in Ohio and top-five in the country (according to the NSCAA and TopDrawerSoccer) Copley (19-0-1) who had to fight and get a 1-0 result over previously unbeaten Avon at Macedonia Nordonia H.S. last night - Copley handled the Generals the first time around 5-0 but Brian Billings thinks this may be a different team heading into saturday's final "We have improved and gotten a lot better since that [Copley] loss. We know they are a good team and I feel we can compete with them right now" said Billings.  As for Perrysburg, they finish the season with a 11-4-5 record and looking for bigger and brighter things next fall - not a bad start for first-year head coach Brandon Decker and his Yellow Jacket program.

#nwoSOCCERweekly