Polar Bears ice Spartans again

By kevin connelly

sports @vindy.com

MASSILLON

For the second year in a row, the Boardman boys soccer team had its season come to an end at the hands — or feet — of Massillon Jackson.

The top-seeded Polar Bears used ball control, stifling midfield defense and a steady amount of shots on goal to defeat the Spartans, 3-0, in a Division I district semifinal Wednesday night.

The Federal League opponents are very familiar with one another, but Jackson has had the upper hand in the series. A year ago, the Polar Bears eliminated the Spartans, 6-0. This year’s match was much tighter, but the result was the same.

“We’ve played with them in the past,” Boardman coach Eric Simione said. “We just haven’t been able to bring it up to the next level yet.”

The Spartans found themselves behind early when defender Adam Calhoun had no choice but to take down Jackson’s Noah Davies inside the box after he had slipped behind Boardman’s defense.

Grant Slovan converted the penalty kick and the Polar Bears were off and running with a 1-0 lead less than 90 seconds into the match.

“It was unfortunate we gave up that one early, but we held them for a long time after that,” Simione said. “The defense played well, though.”

Jackson (14-2-2), which defeated the Spartans 8-1 early in the season, felt it let a lot of scoring chances slip away in the first half and allowed Boardman to stick with its game plan.

“We were a little handcuffed in the finishing department tonight,” Polar Bears coach Michael Biros said. “I thought we kept things under control defensively, kept giving ourselves chances, but we were a little frustrated, yeah.”

It remained a one-goal deficit for Boardman through the first 10 minutes of the second half, until Ross Klauer was able to get a shot past Spartans goalkeeper Brian Fryda to extend the Polar Bears’ lead.

“The second goal was really vital because it gave us some breathing room,” Jackson senior Slovan said. “Once we got it, our confidence boosted and from there we didn’t look back.”

The game stayed within reach for Spartans thanks to a performance in net by Fryda that his coach called, “The best game at goalkeeper I’ve ever seen, from any Boardman keeper, in my 20 or so years of either coaching or watching Boardman soccer.”

The junior goalie stopped 17 shots, many coming two or three at a time. At one point in the second half Fryda made a dive to his left to deflect one shot, got up and came sprinting back to his left to make another save on a rebound attempt.

He also got help from his defenders, as Deeley stopped a point-blank shot with his chest off a set play from a Jackson corner kick.

The Polar Bears, who are ranked fifth in the state, had 20 shots on goal to go along with nine corner kicks. The Spartans, unable to possess to ball in their offensive half for very long, generated just three shots on net.

Jackson added one more goal with 20 seconds left in regulation to finish off the Spartans. The Polar Bears will try to earn their third consecutive district championship on Saturday.

As for Boardman (3-8-5), with just four seniors graduating the core of this year’s team will be back for another run at a district title next season. But for the senior class, it’s a bittersweet feeling to end their career with yet another loss at Jackson.

“We’ve certainly grown a lot after a rocky start,” said Alex Thomas, one of two senior starters for Boardman. “But I think we really came together as a team and made our own little family.

“I think we held our own and did pretty well in the end.”