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Junior Cory Weddington, junior Ryan Meisner and sophomore Chase Betenson (left to right) collaborated on Twinsburg's "golden goal" Thursday night to top visiting Nordonia 1-0 in a Kent Div. I boys soccer sectional final.
TWINSBURG, Ohio – Sophomore Chase Betenson’s “golden goal” with 0:59 left in the first overtime lifted Twinsburg to a 1-0 win over visiting Nordonia Thursday in a Kent Division I boys soccer sectional championship match.
“It was a shame somebody had to lose tonight,” Twinsburg coach Mike Lally said. “At least it didn’t go to PKs.”
The Tigers (10-3-4) advance to host Aurora (10-4-2), a 6-2 winner over Stow-Munroe Falls, in a district semifinal on Monday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m.
“I’ve known (Nordonia coach) Jake (Cooper) for a long time from when he coached Orange and his teams always are tough to compete against.
“I think they had a strategy to double our forwards tonight and take some things away. We knew we were going to have to be patient and keep plugging away.”
On a cold, rainy night at Tiger Stadium, shots were at a premium.
However, in the overtime, Twinsburg found a spark down the left flank and senior Josh Pak Swiger forced the issue, creating opportunities for Lally’s team.
A resulting throw-in, below the 18, taken by junior Cory Weddington, found junior Ryan Meisner, who used his head to flick the ball across the goal mouth to the opposite side. Betenson collected Meisner’s assist and calmly punched it home.
“It feels great,” Betenson said. “To do it for my seniors, I have no words.”
The Tigers executed at a critical juncture and were rewarded with a playoff win.
“We work on that obviously in practice,” Lally said. “We kind of thought that was something we could use in the game.”
Twinsburg junior goalkeeper Frank Candau kept the match scoreless with big saves at 10:35 and 0:35 left in regulation time. Candau finished with four saves.
Nordonia sophomore keeper Jonah Cercek made five stops. The Knights (12-5-1) closed with a school record number of wins.
“If you look at this round of games in our district, it’s insane,” said Lally, referring to the quality of teams meeting in the second round. “We’re happy to be moving on.”
Other sectional finals in Kent Div. I had Solon blanking Walsh Jesuit 2-0, Hudson nipping Howland 2-1 and Aurora blitzing Stow 6-2.