Kenneth Hay, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
LUCASVILLE — In the month of September, the Valley’s boys soccer program has been rolling.
Prior to Tuesday’s match, the Indians were 5-0 since the start of the month, winning those five games by an average of eight goals per.
But Eastern Brown was determined to make sure they weren’t getting too comfortable as the Warriors played with Valley throughout 80 minutes.
The Indians met the task head on, handing their counterpart a hard-fought 1-0 victory to extend their win streak to six games.
Despite a clear forecast and cool weather all day, about five minutes before first touch, rain started to fall.
It didn’t seem to phase Valley as it controlled possession from the opening touch.
In the first 10 minutes alone, the Indians (8-1-2) earned five really good opportunities to score within, or near, the box.
Caysen Zeiber and Jaxsyn Bender were dominant on the attack, but due to some misplayed balls and heroics from Eastern goalkeeper Chase Pinkerton, Valley’s offense was stifled throughout the first half.
Eastern (6-3-2) saw its first real chance at the net near the 12-minute mark on a free kick near the box. But it would sail high and out of bounds, resulting in a goal kick.
Outside that shot from Eastern’s Kayne Dotson, it was all Valley. But despite a constant siege, the game remained scoreless going into halftime.
The first half was one of frustration for the Indians.
In a physical contest through cold rain, the team’s impatience was starting to become visible.
“We almost get antsy,” Valley coach Jacob Perry said. “We’re constantly on the attack. We’re keeping the ball, but they’re just not going in the back of the net. It gets frustrating. Then, we have a couple minutes where we’re our own worst enemy. The ball rolls underneath our foot, we’re in the wrong position, we’re watching the ball … It’s frustrating.”
Valley knew it had to come out in the second half with more energy and, if you look up energy in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of Parker Robinson.
While he might not show up in the stat sheet, the senior defender was all over the pitch.
“When we came out for that second half, I just felt that energy boost out of the roof,” Robinson said. “It was amazing. We were passing, we were moving the ball and we just knew some time soon that we would score.”
With 28:27 remaining, Valley finally got the break it was looking for.
Off a failed set-piece from the corner, Malachi Keller played the ball to Elijah Keller, who would boot it past the keeper to finally put the Indians on the board.
“Oh, it was awesome,” Perry said. “We finally got a breakthrough. It’s like a sigh of relief. It allowed us to settle in.”
Valley carried that momentum all the way to the final buzzer, winning the contest by the slim margin.
Statistically, Keller had the lone goal, assisted by Keller.
In goal, Valley’s Hunter Sparks would save three shots while Pinkerton played his heart out, adding 15 saves to his sheet in a losing effort.
Both teams will continue their campaigns on Thursday as Valley hosts Ironton St. Joe to try to polish off an outright league championship. Meanwhile, Eastern will travel back to Scioto County to face Portsmouth Clay.
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