Ohio Cup Almost Eludes Spartan Boys
Piqua, OH (July 26, 2004) The Spartan soccer team took home their third consecutive Ohio Cup Championship trophy this weekend.
Valley View was unsure if they would even be able to compete in the event, but at the last minute coach Devin Stoutenborough received a call from the director about participating in the tournament.
"We were a late entry into the Ohio Cup, but someone backed out earlier this week (last week) and the director called me to see if we could be there," Stoutenborough said.
The boys were definitely ready to go, with 30 of the 32 players showing up for the tournament with everyone in attendance seeing some playing time.
The first game was on Friday against Twinsburg and the Spartans busted out with a big 2-0 victory.
"They weren't a great team, but they were decent and generated some nice passes," Stoutenborough mentioned.
Kyle Scarberry scored the first goal 13 minutes into the game; he was assisted by William Heistan. In the second half, Ryan Peck scored in the fifth minute to make the score 2-0.
"Jordan (Donson) and Mitchell (Kemper) combined efforts at goalie for a shut out," Stoutenborough said.
On Saturday, Stoutenborough said he had a lot more of his junior varsity team playing, but the Spartans still came out on top against Vermilion, 3-0.
Tony Jones scored the first goal nine minutes into the first half and the Spartans entered the break up by one. Seven minutes into the second half Jones scored again off a pass by Adam McLaughlin which was followed by a goal by Bryant McLaughlin (with eight minutes to go), with an assist by Zac Munch.
"Kemper and Austin Zani recorded a shut out during that game," Stoutenborough noted.
Indian Hill was the next stop on the Spartans list, the game ending 1-1.
"Ryan Peck scored in the eighth minute to pull us in the lead by the half. We just shot so many shots. But, then with a minute and 30 seconds remaining we gave up a goal and they tied the game," Stoutenborough said.
Although it wasn't a loss, Stoutenborough felt that they could've played a better game.
"We didn't' play our best game. We should've beat them. We out-shot them by 12 shots," mentioned Stoutenborough.
The boys came back on Sunday and opened the day with a game against John Glenn. The Spartans kept the ball rolling from Saturday's games and took the 3-0 victory into the championship round.
"Well we normally set a goal to score in the first 10 minutes, but didn't score until the 14th minute when Tony Jones made a goal and was assisted by Zac Munch. That made the score 1-0 going into the half, " Stoutenborough said.
The second half was a lot different, as the Spartans score two goals in the first ten minutes. Scarberry scored one off a pass by Munch and Jimmy Bisceglia made the last goal of a pass by Jones. The game ended 3-0.
"That game took us into the championships," Stoutenborough remarked happily.
The Championship game was against Triway, a team from Wooster, Ohio. It was a strenuous first half for the Spartans, as they went into the half down by one goal.
"This game we got scored on in the 18th minute of the first half. We had some communication problems. We haven't been down all spring, especially at the half, so at the break we had a lot to discuss. I told them at the half, because we had a great crowd come watch us, that they didn't come to see sloppy ball," said Stoutenborough.
The Spartans came out strong in the second half and made their fans proud, as Jones scored a goal off a pass by Bisceglia and then Scarberry knocked one to the back of the net.
"After that we took a 2-1 lead, totally breaking all the momentum they had," Stoutenborough added.
Scarberry remained a strong inside presence when he knocked in another goal off a pass by Bisceglia, who was also on fire, to make the score 3-1.
Stoutenborough felt that they had a big enough lead to give some other keepers experience, so he replaced Donson.
"We had a keeper change because whenever we are up by two goals I like to give another guy a chance, but at the 30 minute mark, literally as the whistle was blown, they made a goal to make the score 3-2," Stoutenborough said.
The victory allowed the Spartans to collect their third consecutive trophy at the Ohio Cup Tournament and brought smiles to all of the fans.
"We were satisfied with how we played. We took home a 13" trophy. We played schools from Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland that we'll never see again this season, but we also got to see what else is out there," Stoutenborough said.
Looking back at the tournament and into the new season, Stoutenborough is excited to get the 2004 season going.
"It's all about how we won our last game. That gives me the most confidence about our team this year. We played one of our worst 30 minutes, but proved that we could come back. They really responded! We ended our spring record 9-3-3 and most of the teams we played were quality teams. We still have a lot to work on, but I think we have started things off really well," Stoutenborough remarked.
