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Beachwood’s defense shuts down Badger
By Ryan Buck
TWINSBURG
On Wednesday night, a familiar cliche proved true. A good defense will always beat a good offense.
Beachwood took an early lead and held the Badger boys soccer team and its prolific offense off the scoreboard for the match’s remaining 67 minutes in a 1-0 victory at Twinsburg Stadium.
The Braves, who scored 109 goals this season, saw their fourth regional appearance in eight seasons end in a Division III regional semifinal.
“Beachwood did a great job,” said second-year Badger coach Justin Deraway. “Every time we made a run down the field, they had someone there to stop us.
“They kept a nice, tight defense. We weren’t able to get three or four guys in the [18-yard penalty box] like we normall do. They cut down any passing lanes we had and they forced us to the outside and we’d lose it out of bounds or just lose possession.”
The Bisons earned the match’s lone goal on Asaf Roth’s converted penalty kick 13 minutes in. The first half saw the Braves (18-2) on their heels as Beachwood’s offensive trio of Roth, Junyoung Lee and Shai Yulish each created chances against George Kirby in the Badger net.
At the second half’s outset, the Braves appeared to sieze momentum and possession. A Dominic Welch run and shot from a distance nearly beat Beachwood goalkeeper Michael Dreka.
“In the second half, their backs were to the wall, so they got their possession together a little bit more and we got the pressure on them,” said Deraway.
With 31:15 left in the match, the Braves rushed forward with their best chance. Braden Elsea’s pass out of the midfield ahead to a streaking Joe Gorospe fooled left defensive back Adam Ratner as Gorospe found himself alone with Dreka inside the 18-yard box.
Dreka dropped to the ground and kicked Gorospe’s shot away at the last instant, denying the Braves a sequence that worked for them all season. Gorospe tallied a team-high 33 goals, many thanks to Elsea’s work in the midfield.
“We’re a very midfield-, defense-minded team,” said Beachwood coach Brian Greene. “We try to stay very compact so if we do make a mistake, it’s not catastrophic.
“[Dreka] made a tremendous save and he bailed us out.”
As the match wound down, the Beachwood defense tightened its formation in its own third of the field, limiting Badger’s chances.
“[Badger has] players that can attack,” said Greene, whose team is making its first regional final appearance since Greene was a high school senior in 1984. “It’s a testament to our defense that we just didn’t let them get going and into a rhythm.”
Kirby made 11 saves on the evening, but Roth’s penalty kick decided the match.
At the 27:19 mark of the first half, the Braves were called for tripping inside their own penalty box.
“We contested the ball really hard,” Deraway said. “The kid went down and they got the call.”