Loudonville boys soccer defeats Rittman on senior night
LOUDONVILLE — Loudonville’s boys soccer team made sure that senior night would go as planned.
The Redbirds tallied a pair of goals in the first six minutes of the game and would eventually take a 5-0 lead at halftime en route to an 8-0 victory over visiting Rittman.
“We wanted to jump out to a lead because you know anybody can be dangerous,” said Loudonville coach Steve Seaman. “You give up a goal and then give up some momentum and then everybody is dangerous.
“You want to get out to a quick start, but that was even quicker than we anticipated.”
Brayson Youngen scored the opening goal at the 34:35 mark of the opening minutes before Aiden Neibert stepped in front of a pass and went coast-to-coast just 10 seconds later for the quick 2-0 advantage.
Keltin Baker (29:40), Brendon Hess (11:43) and Neibert (8:05) would all tack on goals before intermission to give Loudonville some breathing room.
“We wanted to show them respect because their coach does a great job with them,” added Seaman. “They have quality players and quality guys over there.”
In the second half, Zeke Hershberger knocked down a penalty kick (39:34) and Hess ended his fine evening with a hat trick (37:25; 3:15) with a pair of second half goals.
“It is amazing playing with all those guys. I just love them,” said Hess. “It makes it even better when we can get a win on senior night.
“I will always remember the hat trick on senior night. Especially when everyone came around me. We have three captains in me, Zeke and Aiden, but everyone else on the team acts like a captain. We all lead and we all talk. It is special.”
Seniors recognized were Baker, Easton Edwards, Hershberger, Hess, Neibert and Sam Sly.
“Tremendous commitment,” said Seaman on what makes this group special. “It is the work you don’t see that sets them apart from other groups. They are working when nobody is watching and nobody sees it.
“Nobody gets great in this game if all they do is when people are watching. It has to happen in your back yard when you are all by yourself knocking the ball up against the wall. And they do that.”
“We have a lot of inexperience,” said Rittman coach Bud Olszewski. “They are all learning on the fly and we have low numbers. They work hard and keep their spirit up. Every game is a challenge but they live up to that challenge the best they can.”
Seaman said he appreciated the effort Rittman gave all night.
“We have tons of respect for them,” he said. “They have a quality keeper. I like how their guys handled things tonight and I thought our guys handled it well too.”
Seaman was referencing Rittman keeper Bradyn Raber who was under duress most of the night, but managed to swat away 13 shots. He made three fantastic saves in the second half alone with one being a point-blank penalty shot he smothered.
“He has been a great goalkeeper for us,” praised Olszewski. “Almost every game we play he is the better of the two goalkeepers. He is a senior and a good leader who has taken on the responsibilities.”
Loudonville had 23 shots on goal and the game’s only corner kick.
Seaman is looking forward to the continued improvement he has seen so far.
“We still have a long ways to go,” he said. “We are finally getting healthy and the schedule is a little kinder to us. We have a couple of big games coming up and we are just trying to get better every time we practice and every time we play.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Boys Soccer: Loudonville beats Rittman on senior night
