Eaton beats powerhouse Bellbrook

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BELLBROOK — History was made by the Eaton boys soccer team on Thursday, Sept. 1, as they brought down the Bellbrook Golden Eagles, 2-1, in a Southwestern Buckeye League clash.

Never in the history of Eaton soccer had the Eagles won a game against the Southwestern Division foe who has dominated the division for many years.

“This is by far the biggest win in all my years of coaching at Eaton,” said coach Matt Money after the game. “I told them to continue to enjoy this up to Monday’s practice, but we have to continue to play the rest of the season.”

Eaton scored first in the game, on a kick from James Howard, to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead at halftime.

“We were kind of scrambling because we were losing players and we only have 17 on the roster,” Money said. “I think we are ranked No. 8 in the area from the Coaches Poll. But things are progressing for Eaton soccer. We have big games coming and every game is a chance to continue the success.”

Bellbrook responded with their lone goal with about 14 minutes left in the game to tie it up. But two minutes later, at about the 12 minute mark, Eaton scored again on a scramble inside the box which was finished off by Danny Howard.

From there, Bellbrook was unable to mount a serious offensive threat due to tremendous pressure from the Eagle defense.

“This gives energy to the program and to the future players who want to be a part of Eaton soccer. Everyone was smiling and I’ve had a bunch of former players contact me through social media about what happened and how proud they were,” Money said. “The kids didn’t really understand the impact of this win after the game was over. But on Saturday at our training session, they caught on to it and began to realize how big this win is, and important. I started working here back in 1987 and we didn’t beat them back then. So this is a defining moment.”

Eaton tied Bellbrook in the mid-90s for a share of the SWBL Southwestern Division, but did not defeat them that year.

“Bellbrook comes back to our house late in October. It’s going to be a bloodbath and we need to be prepared for it. We need to worry more about us and how we are doing the little things and how we are playing as hard as we can,” Money said.

Owen Baumann and John Altom each assisted on the two Eaton goals by the Howards. Goalkeeper Chris Hudgel had five saves on the night.

Eaton is now 3-1 overall, and 2-0 in the SWBL. The boys’ next match was scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 6, against Monroe, who sports a 1-2-1 record. The Eagles will host Oakwood on Thursday.

Eagles squeeked past perennial powerhouse Bellbrook for their first ever win over the Golden Eagles in history

By Oliver Sanders

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Reach Oliver Sanders at 937-683-4062 or on Twitter @osanders_RH

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