43
South Range ace Youngs hurt in win
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
YOUNGSTOWN
The South Range boys soccer team finished their huddle by shouting “Brandon” in honor of teammate Brandon Youngs who left Wednesday’s game against Ursuline after suffering a severe leg injury in the second half.
The Raiders defeated Ursuline, 4-1, at Farmers National Bank Field at Youngstown State University.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Youngs remained down after a collision with Ursuline goalkeeper Bo Gray. Paramedics carried him off the field.
Ursuline coach Roy Schmidt said the bravest players on the field are the goalkeepers and forwards. He said Youngs is a wonderful person and has nothing but praise for him.
Against Ursuline on Aug. 28, Youngs scored five goals including the 100th of his career.
“As good of a player he is, he’s a better person,” South Range coach Mike Bailey said. “He’s got an extremely bright future and we hope for a speedy recovery for him.”
The Raiders didn’t let Youngs exit affect their playing. Mitch McConnell scored off a penalty kick and Reese Babuder scored the team’s fourth goal within three minutes after McConnell’s goal.
“We’re always going to play hard,” McConnell said. “We push through Brandon a lot, so it’s going to stink not having him there.”
South Range kept the Irish from scoring until there was five minutes left in the game and Jacob Coman was able to find the back of the net during a penalty kick.
Bailey and McConnell agreed the team has been working well together the last few games, which will help with Youngs being out.
McConnell said players are going to have to step up and push harder to make up for losing a top offensive player.
Ursuline and South Range are fighting injuries within their team.
Bailey said it’s been fun watching his team grow and start coming together. They have some big games coming up, but the Raiders say they are up to the challenge.
Girls game
Preceeding the boys game was the matchup between the Ursuline and South Range girls teams. Ursuline celebrated their Senior Night with a comeback win, 2-1.
“The girls have come together as a team over the last three-four weeks,” South Range coach Paul Lindstrom said. “They’ve worked hard.”
South Range’s Rachel Maynard scored the first goal seven minutes into the game.
“The girls got it together going into the second half and just played solid,” Schmidt said. “They gave me a much better game — they gave themselves a much better game.”
The first goal for the Irish was by Taylor Tomlinson with less than 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Catherine Faloon scored next to break the tie with less than two minutes left in the game.
“As soon as the whistle blew for the second half, we just went for it,” Tomlinson said. “If you don’t work as a team, it’s not going to work.”