43
Falcons’ season halted
Jackson’s Davies
scores off free kick
to eliminate Fitch
By brandon Judeh
AUSTINTOWN
Soccer is a cruel sport. One game everything goes your way and the next, it doesn’t.
Most everything went Austintown Fitch’s way this season — every close game and every close call.
But that changed Wednesday night at Falcon Stadium as Fitch lost a heartbreaker to Massillon Jackson, 1-0, in a Division I boys district semifinal.
The game remained scoreless for 68 minutes as each team had several chances to score, but narrowly missed their opportunities.
Controversy struck in the 29th minute of the second half when the Polar Bears were awarded a free kick in front of the Falcons’ goal.
James Haupt’s kick deflected off of Fitch goalie Nick Sheely’s chest and went right to Noah Davies, who scored the lone goal of the night.
“That was the best team we saw all year,” Sheely said. “Haupt hit it low to the corner and I was able to get down to it, but they were able to get the rebound.
“Sometimes you get breaks, sometimes you don’t, its soccer, that’s why we play the game.”
Fitch (17-1) couldn’t catch a break as the Falcons had three shots travel mere inches over the crossbar and two others miss just wide of the nets.
“That’s the game of soccer,” Fitch senior Ken Kilpatrick said. “You can’t score every time. We needed to put it in the net, but we were unable to do so and there is nothing we can do about it now.”
Sheely, who had nine saves, made several terrific stops to keep the game tied. Jackson goalie Michael Metzger matched Sheely.
Sheely made a spectacular save that got the crowd on their feet 20 minutes into the game. He made an even better save early in the second half as a flurry of yellow Jackson jerseys were in front of the net.
After making the initial save, a Polar Bear rebounded the ball and appeared to have a wide-open shot, but Sheely quickly got back on his feet and made another diving stop.
Sheely’s strong leg gave Falcons great field position throughout the night, as he often booted the ball 60 to 70 yards.
“I think being able to kick the ball that far helps us a lot, it helps relieve pressure and counters the other team, unfortunately it didn’t help us out tonight,” he said.
Fitch will lose six key seniors, who were part of the program’s methodical improvement over four years.
“This was such a great class,” Falcons coach Brian Stiles said. “The juniors have big shoes to fill next season, these guy’s were great leaders.”