Meade’s golden goal lifts BVA over Ringgold
By JEREMY SELLEW
jsellew@yourmvi.com
Instead of opening the season with multiple scrimmages and a couple exhibition games, the Belle Vernon Area and Ringgold boys soccer teams renewed their rivalry in the season opener at James Weir Stadium Monday.
And the two rivals didn’t disappoint the crowd in attendance.
BVA’s Hunter Meade scored off a Ringgold miscue with 37 seconds remaining in the first overtime period to give the Leopards a thrilling 2-1 season-opening win over their Section 3-3A rivals from across the river.
With the win, the defending section champions upped their winning streak over the Rams to three games.
“It’s like a continuation of last season,” BVA head coach Rob Miele said. “These guys were so comfortable in close games last season. There was never any panic then, and there wasn’t any panic tonight.”
Belle Vernon opened the scoring early on when Tyler Kovatch roped a shot in on Rams goalkeeper Jeremy Mullen. The ball squirted underneath Mullen’s arms and he raced to gather it in as the ball neared the goal line. BVA’s Nick Nagy was hustling after the ball, too, and slammed it into the back of the net to give his team a 1-0 lead.
“I think we had a lot of nerves early on. This is more than just an opening game. It’s Ringgold. I think the opening goal really allowed us to settle in,” Miele said. “I also think it let them settle in a little bit.”
After the opening goal, the Rams controlled most of the play midway through the first 40 minutes.
“The guys were really buying into everything we’ve been preaching,” Ringgold head coach Matt Snyder said. “Everything we expected them to do, they did well. They got the early one on a couple of breakdowns, but for the most part, I think they really digested what we’ve been saying.”
Ringgold couldn’t get through the Leopards’ back line for most of the first half, but did get a couple of shots on goal at BVA keeper TJ Watson. He finished with four saves.
In the second half, though, Ringgold kept applying pressure and eventually broke through when Zach Alvarez scored following a throw-in. Jonnie McDuffie picked up an assist on the goal.
“The last five goals we’ve allowed as a team were on plays similar to that. Blackhawk scored four goals on us like that in our playoff loss,” Miele said. “That’s something we’re going to have to clean up. We keep getting caught with no one on the goal side.
“In the second half, though, they did a good job of getting the ball on (Brandon) Jaki’s feet and I feel like there was a lot more action,” Miele said. “But once they scored, we kind of calmed down a little bit and regrouped. I definitely think in the overtime, we had the better play.”
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