PHOTO BY ROMM PHOTOGRAPHY
The Green Bulldogs, the No. 4 seed, toppled No. 1 seed Kent Roosevelt 4-2 on Saturday night to win the Youngstown Division I District boys soccer title.
KENT --When is too much of a good thing a good thing?
When you have 16 senior soccer players and are headed to the regional tournament.
The roller-coaster ride that was Green's soccer season, now includes the Bulldogs hoisting up the Youngstown Division I District trophy.
On Saturday night, the fourth-seeded Bulldogs had a tall order: to travel to Kent and defeat the No. 1 seed, the Roosevelt Rough Riders, on their home field.
Green broke on top 3-0 and survived a bizarre final 20 minutes to win 4-2 and hand fifth-year coach Justin Thacker his first district crown. Senior midfielder Jud Sprandel, a four-year starter, had two goals and one assist to lead the way.
"Ever since I was a little kid I've been going to the high school games and looking up to the high school kids. I can't believe we're finally here," Sprandel said. "It's been a dream of mine ever since my freshman year. We lost the district title my freshman year and I've been wanting it so bad ever since. It's an amazing feeling winning it my senior year."
The Bulldogs (12-4-3) opened the season with a 1-0 win over Roosevelt and ran out to a 5-0-2 start. Injuries and state-ranked opponents were largely responsible for a 1-4-1 middle of the season. However, a six-match winning streak, including a memorable 2-1 thriller at GlenOak, have culminated in Green winning a coveted district title.
"We knew we had the puzzle pieces at the start of the season," Thacker said. "It was just a matter of fitting everyone together."
Goals by Tyler Meredith, Sprandel, and a beautiful header goal by Juan Amaya had Green in charge at 3-0. That's when things got a little crazy for the visitors.
Roosevelt missed a PK wide left with 17:10 left to play. Forty-nine seconds later, the Rough Riders were back at the penalty mark and Jose Rocha punched home a goal at 16:21.
With Roosevelt pressing, Sprandel, who had a hip flexor injury midway through the season, blasted another long-range shot, which glanced off a Kent defender and landed in the back of the net at 5:54.
"To go up 4-1 was a beautiful thing," Sprandel said. "I can't even describe it. It was an amazing feeling."
Christopher Moravec added a late goal for Roosevelt (14-5-0) at 3:45.
Green advances to play Jackson on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. at Brush High School.