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Russ’ goal, defense power South Range
By Curtis Pulliam
Brunswick
Matt Russ wasn’t expecting the ball, but he knew what to do once it came his way.
“It was just so natural for me,” Russ said. “I saw the ball coming to me, so I put my left foot out and saw it go to the goalie and I knew it was going in.”
It was the winning goal for South Range, which advanced to its first regional final by defeating Kidron Central Christian, 3-0, at Brunswick High School.
“Fantastic,” said Raiders head coach Joseph Staffeld about moving on. “This is a goal we set out to achieve 15 weeks ago.”
The Comets controlled most of the first half by keeping the ball away from the Raiders.
With about four minutes to go, Brandon Youngs was awarded a free kick and fired a shot on Central Christian goalie Jeremiah Mullet.
After a Mullet save, the ball bounced to the middle of the field where Russ found it and put it past Mullet.
“That definitely gave us the momentum,” Staffeld said. “It took a little bit of the wind out of there sails. But a 1-0 lead is nothing.”
The Raiders played most of the second half protecting their one-goal lead.
Central Christian had many chances to put one past Raiders goalie Brant Rothbauer, but thanks to his 11 saves and a solid defensive effort, the Raiders kept the Comets off the scoreboard.
“Our [gameplan] was, ‘Don’t let them score, don’t let them shoot and don’t let them cross,’ ” Staffeld said. “All season long we’ve limited our competitors to about six to eight shots.”
The Comets (13-6-1) finished with six.
“We just felt like we were going to score,” Central Christian head coach Dave Risser said. “We kept going and being successful and we had some chances, but they didn’t fall tonight.”
With 18:18 left, Paulo Nunes had a shot from the middle on Rothbauer that slid right past the left goal post. In the remaining minutes, the Comets had two more corner kicks, but couldn’t score.
The Raiders (16-1-2) added to their lead with four minutes left in the match. Mullet ran toward Russ on a breakaway and slid into him. Mullet received a red card and Landon Baer scored on the penalty kick to make it 2-0.
“I just looked over to Coach when we got the penalty kick and he just nodded his head and pointed at me,” Baer said.
That was solid,” Staffeld said. “That sealed the deal for us.”
Shortly after Youngs broke away again and scored to make it 3-0.
“It’s just amazing,” said Youngs, a freshman. “This is our best team ever at South Range and we’ve totally proved it on the field.”
“This is huge, it’s historic,” said Staffeld, smiling. “This is a sweet victory for us.”
The Raiders avenged a loss from last year in the semifinal and Russ knew his play was what got South Range fired up.
“It [meant] a lot,” said Russ, a senior. “To finish the game off the way we did was sensational.”