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Ripley nips St. Patrick, 2-1
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By TONY BOYD For The Ledger Independent
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The Ripley Blue Jays posted one goal in each half and withstood a late charge by St. Patrick and went on to notch a 2-1 victory over the Saints at the Tom Browning Boys' and Girls' Club in an interstate matchup Thursday
.As the score indicates, it was a tight battle between the two teams for the entire 80 minutes but it was Ripley that managed to take more advantage of its opportunities to put the ball in the net. The Blue Jays ended the game with a total of 13 shots on goals compared to St. Patrick's 11.
However, it was some missed attempts by the Saints early in the game that proved to be the difference.
“We missed a lot of opportunities early in the game,” said St. Patrick coach Father Ivan Kalamuzi. “That could've given us the momentum that we needed. But, you have to give credit to Ripley. They played hard.”
Two of those missed opportunities included two shots before either team got on the board. Ripley keeper Dylan Johnson made a great save on the first one, and the second shot, which came off the foot of Zboy Oluwaremi, hit the side post of the goal.
Finally, in the 34th minute, Ripley's Jordan England gave his team the lead with a shot that beat St. Patrick keeper Stephen Mason.
"We played really well,” said Ripley coach Gabe Scott. “We just got two of our starters back from injuries. It is a little more aggressive over here so we worked on that in practice. We know that St. Patrick has had a good season, so this is a good win for us. I thought we came out and played a full, solid game.”
Right after halftime, St. Patrick threatened to tie the score when Cody Burton created a opportunity. However, his shot, like Oluwaremi's in the first half, hit the crossbar and went wide of the goal. Only a minute later, the Saints were called for a foul in the box which resulted in a penalty kick for the Blue Jays. Jacob McCray then beat Mason with the shot to put Ripley up 2-0.
The two teams then went back and forth for the next 20-plus minutes until Oluwaremi scored on a rebound shot that brought St. Patrick back to within one goal.
Two minutes later, it looked as if the Saints were going in for the tying goal when Oluwaremi teamed up with Edward Jimenez on a nice give-and-go play. But, Oluwaremi's shot was stopped by Johnson and that preserved the win for the Blue Jays.
“(St. Patrick) had a couple of opportunities but they couldn't capitalize,” said Scott. “This gives us a lot of confidence going into the tournament, next week.”
Ripley will end its regular season today before starting postseason play next Saturday against an opponent that hasn't been determined.
The Saints will start district play Monday at home against Pendleton County and, according to Father Kalamuzi, they will be without two starters because of injuries.
“My concern is the injuries, and we don't have our 'A' team,” he said. “We lost Lee Gallenstein and Cody Jodrey, and that is going to hurt us. We just have to try to do the best we can.”
Ripley 1 1 - 2
St. Patrick 0 1 --1
R-England, 34th minute
R-McCray, 42nd minute
SP-Oluwaremi, 70th minute |
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