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Raiders, Rothbauer set for state final
South Range will meet Cincinnati Summit Country Day
in the Division III soccer state final Saturday night
By BRIAN DZENIS
CANFIELD
At this point, the result is all that matters.
South Range has been out-shot and out-possessed as the Raiders have gone deeper and deeper into the postseason, but they made it to the Division III state final by winning ugly.
Case in point, Wednesday’s 1-0 semifinal win against Archbold, which was decided off an Archbold own goal when a South Range free kick hit off a defender’s noggin into the net. The Raiders have been lucky, but they’ve put the work in to create it.
“We did have a lot of luck and if you’re going to make it to the state final, you’re going to need a little luck and [Archbold] had a lot of possession, but I think that we put in 110 percent and that hard work paid off,” Raiders goalie Brant Rothbauer said. “Yeah, we got that goal, but they didn’t get one on us.”
Up next is Cincinnati Summit Country Day, a team that should it emerge victorious on Saturday, will have won three of the last four state title games. The Silver Knights have yet to allow a goal in the entire postseason. Raiders coach Joe Staffeld hasn’t seen much of Summit, but he knows what he needs from his team.
“We don’t need to be better than Summit Country Day everyday, we need to be better than them for 80 minutes on Saturday, that’s it,” Staffeld said. “I need everyone to show up. I need their heart. For six or seven of them, this is the end of their careers. Some will play in college, but some these guys will be in 30-and-over leagues, like me.”
Rothbauer expects Saturday to play out in a similar fashion as Wednesday — the Raiders will likely get out-shot and out-possessed and will have to depend on their counterattack to generate any offense. The senior netminder has thrived under pressure, but it hasn’t always been the most enjoyable experience.
“I really hate it because when there’s a one-on-one or a shot on goal, on any one of those if you make a mistake, that could be it,” Rothbauer said “When you’re up 1-0 or it’s 0-0, it’s really hard, because it’s nerve-wracking and it’s a lot of pressure, especially on the defense.”
Said Staffeld: “[Brant] is a good kid, there’s a lot of games he’s had this season where he’s pretty bored, so this is the time of year where it’s his turn to shine,” Staffield said. “During the regular season, there’s times when some teams didn’t generate any offense and he’s watching the game from 50 yards away. He’s been thirsty for these tough games and I have all the confidence in the world in my keeper.”
The game will be played at the Columbus Crew’s MAPFRE Stadium and win or lose, it’s a fitting locale for the Raiders seniors to play in their last game.
“I remember visiting MAPFRE Stadium when I was little for the first time and I loved it,” Rothbauer said. “The seniors that I play with now went to see [the Crew] play when we were all on the same club team.”
MAPFRE Stadium offers a much wider playing surface than the typical high school field, which could be an advantage for a South Range team that relies on its speed — specifically sophomore Brandon Youngs’ speed — to generate offense on the counteratttack.
“It really could, their back four isn’t going to want to run as much to conserve their power, but if one steps out and Brandon beats them, there’s three left and so on,” Rothbauer said. “There’s more space for him, which he likes and he’ll use properly.”
The game is set for 7 p.m. and the Raiders don’t mind if they’re not sitting pretty at the end of the night, as long as it’s with that D-III trophy.
“It seems to be a common theme, but I’m sure we’ll put the hard work in and get the results from it,” Rothbauer said.