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Chippewa ends Raiders’ run
By Tim Cleveland
TWINSBURG
The South Range boys soccer team got hot at just the right time late in the regular season, with things carrying over in the playoffs.
The Raiders won six consecutive games, outscoring their opponents 23-0 to advance to a Division III regional semifinal against Doylestown Chippewa.
South Range tied the game to send it into overtime, but Djordje Cancarevic scored for the Chipps with 6:04 remaining in the extra period to give Chippewa a 2-1 victory at Twinsburg High School.
“I don’t really remember; it was kind of a blur,” South Range coach Alan Styer said of the game-winning goal. “He came in from the right side, but I can’t really tell you what happened.”
Cancarevic said that his team’s pressure was the key to victory.
“Coach kept telling us to pressure the defense, they would eventually make that mistake,” he said. “I eventually kept pressuring them, kept pressuring them, and finally they made that mistake. Let the ball bounce once and just volleyed it right in.”
Chippewa coach Russ Coney said once Cancarevic listened to instructions, he was able to win the game for the Chipps.
“We dominated the game, we were getting the ball to our forwards but Djordje was doing too much,” Coney said. “He wasn’t staying where he needed to stay. North-South I didn’t mind, but he was going east-west and taking himself out of it.
“We told him to stay a little bit more centralized and when you get the ball, don’t run into the pack. He finally listened and he took a beautiful shot.”
Chippewa (17-0-3) took a 1-0 lead to snap a streak of more than 500 scoreless minutes for South Range, as Jaden Kidd gained control of the ball and beat South Range goalkeeper Brant Rothbauer with 18:56 left in the first half.
South Range (11-5-4) leveled things at the 12:07 mark of the first half as the Raiders earned a free kick. Tyler Rothbauer took the kick from 49 yards out, sending a high, arching shot toward the goal. Chippewa keeper Mike Millsaps made a leaping attempt at the ball, but it entered the goal just above his outstretched hand.
“He’s been working on those all year,” Styer said. “He’s got quite a foot. He’s the placekicker on the football team.”
“It was just misplayed by the goalie,” Coney said. “It should’ve never happened. He’s been great all season long and he picked a bad time for it. His team picked him up, so no harm, no foul.”
The second half was dominated by Chippewa, as the Chipps bombarded the South Range defense again and again, but the Raiders refused to allow a goal.
“You’ve just got to keep them settled down,” Coney said. “Keep settled down and keep taking shots and it’ll come. We had a boatload of shots, we just weren’t able to finish.”
Styer said the pressure Chippewa was bringing was too much for South Range to overcome.
“They sure were running us,” he said. “It’s the toughest offense we’ve probably played all year. They just kept coming at us. We’re used to doing that to other people, but today they had the edge.”
Chippewa’s Tyler Badock had three free kicks that Brant Rothbauer had to make saves on. Kidd also had two good scoring chances.
About a minute before he ended the game, Cancarevic got around Rothbauer and took a shot, but South Range defender Will Stephenson cleared what would have been a goal.
“I think we were more conditioned,” Cancarevic said. “All the way through practice we conditioned every day. I think that helped us out a lot.”
Despite the loss, Styer said that with so much of his team returning, he expects a similar run next year.
“I have incredible expectations for next season,” he said. “This is a young team; we’re only losing three seniors. We’ve got an incredible junior class. We depend heavily on a bunch of sophomores right now. Next year, they’re going to be bigger, stronger, faster.”