Chris Powell tries to move the ball into scoring position as Tecumseh senior Angel Alvarado applies defensive pressure.
Ron Nunnari | The Register-Herald
CLAYTON — With a pair of early goals the Northmont boys soccer team took a quick 2-0 lead Tuesday in a non-conference season opening game against Tecumseh and went to post a 3-0 victory.
The Thunderbolts scored all three of its goals in the first half. Pedro Acuna scored twice and Chris Powell had one goal and one assist. Nevin Smith and Julian Bazile each had an assist.
The Arrows made adjustments to keep Northmont’s attack in check the remainder of the game. Tecumseh played a very competitive game and pressured the goal multiple times in the second half.
“Individually Tecumseh is very good. They are always very competitive and play hard,” said Northmont coach Bob Brown who is entering his ninth year as head coach. “We got up 3-0 early and they figured a few things out and we took our foot off the gas and it got way more competitive than I thought it should have been, but it’s always a decently close game when we play them.”
The T’bolts ability to earn the victory came despite the team having only three returning starters this year.
“We have a bunch of really good guys this year and they get along better than some of our other teams have, which is nice,” Brown noted.
Northmont’s player displayed good ball handling skills throughout the match and sophomore goalkeeper Ethan Crist made three saves to secure the shutout win.
“When we start moving the ball around we are dangerous as all get out,” Brown said. “I’ve got a couple of guys that can move. When we resort to just playing over the top at an angle and watching them go get it, then it’s anybody. When we do that we don’t play like us, we play like anybody.”
With victory Northmont got off to a 1-0-0 start while Tecumseh fell to 0-2-0. The Arrows suffered a 2-0 loss at Fairmont on Aug. 16.
Northmont plays Chaminade-Julienne next and then travels to Magsig Middle School on Tuesday to face perennial power Centerville. The Elks finished second in the Greater Western Ohio Conference last season with a 15-3-3 overall and 6-1-0 conference record. Springboro took the conference crown at 13-2-4 overall and 7-0-0 in GWOC play.
Springboro won two postseason games while the Elks made it all the way to the Div. I regional semifinal where they lost 1-0 to Cincinnati Moeller.
Reach Ron Nunnari at (937) 684-9124 or email [email protected].
