Strong defense showcased in Crestview-So. Range stalemate

By Jon Moffett

Seth DuMoulin put Crestview on the board, and Andrew Edwards answered for South Range.

NORTH LIMA — Sports are often compared to war, but Crestview’s Zach Forney plans to take that one step further.

Forney, a senior defender on the soccer team, will join the Marines after he graduates this spring.

“It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do,” Forney said. “I feel like I should serve my country and get out there and fight.”

Forney and a strong Crestview defense were able to tie South Range 1-1 Wednesday.

Crestview coach Jay Radman said Forney is a born leader and “always knows where to be” on the field. And Wednesday, Forney was all over the field.

South Range (9-1-2), had multiple opportunities in the first half, but the Raiders weren’t able to finish. South Range had all the momentum during the final five minutes of the first half .

“You always want to score more,” said Bill Wagonhouser, coach of South Range. “We’ve had some close games. We’ve got kids that can put the ball in the goal, it just doesn’t happen enough.”

Crestview (6-4-3) came out aggressively in the second half and put the pressure on South Range. Raider goalie Luke Yeagley, a senior, was busy deflecting shots and made only one mistake. With 29:07 in the game, Yeagley dove to stop a shot and knocked the ball back into the field of play. Crestview forward Seth DuMoulin got the rebound and kicked the ball off of a Raider defender and into the net.

South Range answered just minutes later on a goal from senior Andrew Edwards with 27:09 left.

With 2:22 remaining, a South Range player was called for a penalty. Crestview forward Greg Bing argued with the referee about the severity of the penalty, and was given a yellow card. DuMoulin attempted the free kick, but the ball went wide of the goal.

South Range pushed the ball with the remaining time, but was not able to score before time ran out.

“It was exciting,” Radman said. “For both sides, we missed our opportunities, but both teams battled until the end.”

Wagonhouser said South Range’s defense has been the key to their season so far, as well.

“We’ve had three or four shutouts and we’ve had three or four games with one goal,” Wagonhouser said. “We haven’t had a problem stopping the other team, our problem is putting the ball in the goal.”

jmoffett@vindy.com