Anthony Wayne rolls the Knights - Evan Black's 2 goals gives the Generals' the right boost

Whitehouse - In a game that was postponed for 2 weeks Anthony Wayne and St. Francis de Sales finally did battle where they ended out on the campus of Anthony Wayne.  The game resumed at 28:49 remaining in the first half and SFS drew first blood within the first 5 minutes - senior Jake Micham broke through and was clipped in the box by Generals' senior Chris Jackson giving the Knights a penalty...Micham converted and gave the Knights an early lead and that is when Anthony Wayne took over from there.  Senior Evan Black 3 minutes after Micham's goal responded with a goal of his own taking a rip from the left corner of the box putting it past SFS goalkeeper Logan McNamara off the far post to make it 1-0 assisted by Colin Mortemore - less than 3 minutes after Mortemore got free in behind the SFS defense and nicely chipped the ball to the top shelf of the goal making it 2-0 Generals.  Mortemore would take a ball down to the corner to blast a ball across the mouth of goal and senior Jared Russell would put the ball away making it 3-1 with 17 minutes remaining in the first half.  In the second half the Generals continued to press the Knights causing a lot of issues to generate anything going forward - with under 20 minutes to go a lightning delay stopped play for about 75 minutes but the Generals would not let the delay take them out of rhythm.  Evan Black would score his second goal of the match with under 15 minutes to play to seal the deal over the Knights (#2 in NWO Soccer Weekly Power Poll) 4-1.  "I was very proud of our boys' performance tonight, we came relaxed and just played to our potential" said AW head coach Brian Billings.  "If you look at our record - we have lost to the #1 and 4 ranked team in the state - I think we are a team that can play with anyone in District and State - we have to let the process work itself out and just be ready for when opportunity arises".  Anthony Wayne improves to 6-5-2 and will travel to #7 Dublin Coffman Saturday and finish the NLL regular season with Bowling Green and will host Dayton-power Bellbrook.  St. Francis de Sales falls to 8-3-1 and will end their regular season with very tough tilts including a trip to Cleveland back-to-back weekends visiting Westlake and Lakewood St. Edward and on Thursday night they will look forward to keep their TRAC title hopes alive when they host fierce rival St. John's Jesuit.  

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Wildcats hold off late Knight flurry - Biggs game-winner in the 9th minute good enough for the Cats to collect 11th win of the season

Toledo -  With a raucous crowd on hand at LaValley Stadium on the campus of St. Francis de Sales, it did not take long for the Wildcats to continue their great successes - in the 9th minute sophomore Tyler Biggs buried a 20 yd blast past senior Knight goalkeeper Logan McNamara to give the Wildcats the game-winner and a 1-0 win over a very talented St. Francis de Sales side.  The Wildcats and Knights played without their top stars - senior Matt Bules left the match 15 minutes into the match to an injury (undisclosed) and junior midfielder Colin Clarke did not play (undisclosed) - the Knights in the second half picked up the pressure and created some chances. Senior Jake Micham saw a blast go just wide of the net and senior Ben Zepp and Daniel Kenner saw indirect free kicks go straight to junior Wildcats goalkeeper Jacob Genot. Genot, who has been impressive all through the season gave the Knights issues from their throw-in specialist Ben Zepp to get flicks to the near post against a much-taller and athletic Wildcats side.  Junior Aerin West with under a minute left in the match pushed the ball behind the Knights back four and lost control of the ball to give Northview the assurance goal - Northview improves to 11-0-1 with matches against Bowling Green and a highly-anticipated match with NLL foe Perrysburg to close out NLL play and finish with a quality Findlay side - the Knights drop to 7-2-1 and still have a chance to win the TRAC title but close out with the toughest final four tilts in the area against a revved up Anthony Wayne side, travel to Westlake next Saturday and finish with the annual rivalry meeting with St. John's Jesuit and state-power Lakewood St. Edward.

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NWO Soccer Weekly Saturday Night Showcase (Sylvania Northview vs. Tol. St. Francis de Sales) Game Preview

Tale of Tape 

St. Francis de Sales 

7-1-1 (overall) 4-0-0 (TRAC)

GF (Goals for): 41 (4.56 goal a game) 

GA (Goals against): 6 (0.67 goals a game)

Key Players: Seniors Daniel Kenner (MF/F), Jake Micham (F), Ben Zepp (DF), Junior Colin Clarke (F) & Keegan Winkler (DF)

Key wins: Findlay & Perrysburg

Notes: This is a much improved Knights side compared to a year ago - led by veterans who are all either third or fourth year varsity members. They are paced by a very dynamic and pacey attacking combination of junior Colin Clarke and seniors Jake Micham and Daniel Kenner. Micham, who leads the Knights in goals (9g, 7a) has performed at a very high level so far this season while Clarke (8g, 5a) who has been a handful for any team to defend continues to bring his technical ability and ability to be a consistent finisher will give teams issues at the back. Kenner, who is playing in the interior has done a fantastic job in directing the attack going forward and scored a fantastic goal in the run of play in their 2-1 win over Perrysburg - senior Davis Michalski will give the Knights a boost in the midfield.  The back 4 for the Knights has been very stingy and can give many teams some issues to breakdown due to great organization - led by senior Ben Zepp and junior Keegan Winkler, the Knights have only conceded 6 times this year and senior Logan McNamara has recorded 4 shutouts and has an impressive 84 percent save percentage.  This is a team that has the ability to be in a Regional without question - only blemish came from District finalist Ashland (1-2) but consistency will have to be a big issue for them as they head into a very tough stretch of the regular in the final weeks including tilts with Sylvania Northview, TRAC archrival St. John's Jesuit, Anthony Wayne and Regional semifinalist and NE Ohio power Lakewood St. Edwards, but if you are going to be a deep tournament team...you have to play the teams that will prepare you for battle. 

Sylvania Northview

10-0-1 (overall) 5-0-0 (NLL)

GF (Goals for): 37 (3.36 goals a game)

GA (Goals against): 2 (0.18 goals a game)

Key Players: Seniors Matt Bules (MF/DF), Ben Haselhuhn (DF), Juniors Aerin West (MF/DF), Jonah Masters (MF/DF), Kamy Mourad (DF), Jacob Genot (GK), Sophomore Tyler Biggs (MF)

Notes: Last season ended abruptly for the Wildcats in the District semifinal losing to Ashland in penalties and leaving the young Cats wanting...this season the veteran side Wildcats are looking to complete the task of bringing home their first District title since 2007 (when the Cats advanced to the State semifinal). Their performance as a team this fall has been excellent - but with some tough games down the stretch will challenge this group.  Led by the best midfield trio in the area in senior Matt Bules, junior Aerin West and sophomore Tyler Biggs - this group will make it very difficult to generate things in the middle. As technically-sound this midfield is - they also are very solid at the back with four returning starters in seniors Ben Haselhuhn, Jake Mason, Michael Condon and junior Kamy Mourad and in goal for the Cats is junior Jacob Genot.  Genot, a first-year starter has come into his own as the shot stopper in net for the Wildcats after replacing First-team All-Ohioan John Wendt, and like last season this Wildcat defense and Genot have only conceded twice this season due to quality at the back and the speed advantage they possess.  Northview, who the past 2 weeks have been in the Top-10 in Ohio proven to be the frontrunner for the best in Northwest Ohio with quality results over St. John's Jesuit, Syl. Southview, Anthony Wayne and got a draw with the 24th ranked team in the country (according to TopDrawerSoccer) University School (Hunting Valley) - but the tough games are not over...Northview will travel to St. Francis de Sales this coming Saturday, will finish out the NLL against a very upset-minded Perrysburg and close the regular season with Findlay. If they can generate results these last few games - no doubt Northview will enter the state tournament deserving of the #1 seed and another NLL title. 

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