ST. CLAIRSVILLE — No. 3 seed John Glenn picked the wrong night to have a rare off outing during Monday’s Division II district semifinal boys soccer match with No. 4 seed Steubenville.
The end result was a 5-2 loss by the Muskies, bringing a strong season to a close just short of earning back-to-back regional appearances. John Glenn finished with a solid 15-4-1 record.
“Like Coach Jackson said, It’s just one of those days when it’s not your day,” John Glenn head coach Will Hess said. “Sometimes that happens in life, it’s all about how you respond and get yourself back up.
“Right now it’s hard,” Hess continued. “We got a love for these kids, and we have a lot of grit that was given by these seniors. That’s just irreplaceable and I hope that every single underclassmen below, and everyone who came out to watch saw that. I appreciated the love and passion that they put into the game. I’m just so blessed to have been able to coach them, and just so proud of them.”
John Glenn seniors who ended their soccer careers included Kanon Riehl, Aarav Vaishnav, Jackson Blagg, Ashton Driggs, Tanner Caudill, and Bo German.
Big Red finds Muskies’ Weak Spot
Matt Lutz punched home the lone goal of the opening half at the 30:14 mark to give Steubenville the momentum and the early lead at 1-0.
John Glenn had numerous near miss opportunities in the first half, but could not find the back of the net to trail at the intermission.
In the second half, Big Red found the Muskies’ weak spot, according to Hess. Steubenville tacked on a total of four goals, with three coming off corner kicks that found their way into the net.
“They beat us on our weakness…balls in the air in the box,” Hess said. “Those are dangerous situations and tonight they took advantage of them. So you just have to give them credit for that. And we will just have to get back to work next year. That’s all we can do at this point. I’m proud of my guys for a great year.”
Late Rally Comes Up Short
Steubenville tallied the first three goals of the second half to extend its lead to 4-0, before the Muskies showed some signs of life.
Vaishnav took a pass from Riehl to get John Glenn on the board with 18:58 left in the match to pull within 4-1, but Steubenville answered to push the lead back to 5-1.
Fittingly it was Muskie high scoring junior Will Nicolozakes, who closed the scoring for the season, taking Riehl’s second assist to make the final 5-2.
Nicolozakes’ goal extended his new record for goals in a season to 33 and also added to his career goals record of 64. And the high scoring standout returns next year for his senior year and will look to add onto those numbers.
[email protected]; Twitter: @KSuttonDJSports; Instagram: kevinsutton_dailyjeffsports
This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: John Glenn boys soccer season ends with district semifinal setback to Steubenville
