Late penalty kick lifts Ripley past Warren, 3-2
VINCENT — Ripley’s boys soccer team faced off against the Warren Warriors Saturday morning for the first regular season match the two schools played together in the last three years.
The weekend soccer matchup came down to the dramatic conclusion of a penalty kick with 31.7 seconds left on clock in the second half, giving Ripley the one-point edge to take home a win over the Warriors, 3-2.
Warren came out strong and played in form in the first half. Defensively the Warriors moved together as one solid unit and held off Ripley at almost every attempt they made on the attack.
“First half we were not winning the 50-50 ball,” said Ripley head coach Tim Ross. “I have to say they(Warren) probably won every 50-50 ball but two balls the whole first half. They were much more aggressive and they were very disciplined to stay in their zone.”
With 23:33 left in the first half, the hard-fought Warriors defense paid off. Warren’s offense managed to knock its first goal of the match into the back of the net making it 1-0.
Ripley tried to return the fire in the first half with a shot 7:10 left on the clock, but the shot went over the goal.
“I think our boys played on our heels the first half,” said Ross. “I think second half was a little more accustomed to how we play, but I think momentum does a lot.”
The second half of the match went back and forth between possession. Ripley slowly gained momentum throughout the second half and found a team chemistry by its mid-fielders connecting passes with their forwards who were making runs down the right and left side of the field. Ripley’s attack managed to break through the solid Warriors defense and toward the end of the second half Ripley’s starting forward Davisson Flint, assisted by Elijah Ross, and midfielder Ian Gainey, assisted by Flint, added one each on the scoreboard for their team to make it 2-1.
Warren managed to get another one on the board this half in a successful attempt of breaking through Ripley’s defense. By the end of the the second half it was 2-2.
Tensions were high in the final minutes of the match as both teams were searching for the goal that would put them over their opponents. In the final minute of the match starting goal keeper for Warren, number 22, sprinted out to the right side of the box and dove towards the ball in an attempt to beat a a Ripley forward sprinting to the ball which resulted in a collision that made the games referee call for a penalty kick.
It was junior forward Broedy Boyce who stepped up to take the penalty for Ripley with half a minute left on the clock. The goal went past Warren’s second-string keeper giving Ripley three goals against Warren’s 2.
“I tip my hat to (Warren),” said Ross. “I think they’re a good team. I think today’s match was between two evenly-matched teams. Two good teams and sometimes you come out to victory and sometimes you don’t. In today’s situation, we were the ones to come out on top.”