Boys soccer: Cloverleaf clinches MAC crown on penalty kicks

KENT — Exactly 190 minutes. That's how long the Cloverleaf and Norton boys soccer teams played against each other without a goal being scored this season. After a scoreless draw in the regular-season meeting and playing an additional two overtime periods Wednesday, the Colts and Panthers headed to penalty kicks to decide their Metro Athletic Conference championship game at Dix Stadium. The Colts got a pair of clutch saves from Dylan Bresnahan and the clinching goal from Thomas Blaha in the fifth round to earn a share of the overall MAC crown. "I felt like I was going to throw up," Blaha said. "I was aiming left — it did not go there — but it went in. You can't really know until you're in that situation. You can practice penalty kicks, but you can't really prepare yourself for it." After each team scored on its first two attempts in PKs, a high Panthers shot in the third round followed by Bresnahan's consecutive stops set up Blaha's winner. "You just have to pick a side that you're going to dive to and just hope they go to that side," Bresnahan said. "Penalty kicks is all luck for a goalie. I picked the side on one and reacted great on the other." Bresnahan wasn't just strong in the penalty kick phase. The senior also was the key to the Colts (10-5-1) keeping the game scoreless through 110 minutes. He stopped 12 shots, including a big first-half save and two in the second overtime that were all high-danger saves to keep Norton (8-7-2) off the scoreboard. "I always practice on my own outside of practice," Bresnahan said. "It's all just reading their hips and just guessing where the ball is going to go and just diving for it and hoping. Being goalie is just a prayer sometimes, every time you jump." He also pitched the shutout in the regular-season matchup with six saves. The Colts' best scoring chance in regulation came off a direct kick from Ben Meyers that went just over the crossbar from 50 yards with 17:50 left in the first half. The Colts' only fired three shots on goal, with Coby Carrasco, Meyers and Isaiah Kurtz accounting for one each. The physical and at times chippy play led to two players from each team getting yellow cards. "We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game," Bresnahan said. "We both are equally talented, so it comes down to penalty kicks. Cloverleaf's lone conference loss came to Field early in the season, which kept it from taking the overall championship. Norton didn't taste defeat during conference play. Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Cloverleaf 0, Norton 0 (Cloverleaf wins 3-2 on penalty kicks) NORTON&emsp;&emsp;0 0 0 — 0 CLOVERLEAF&emsp;&emsp;0 0 0 — 1 Shots on goal — Norton 12, Cloverleaf 3. Corner kicks — Norton 4, Cloverleaf 2. Saves — Blake Kaminski (N) 3, Dylan Bresnahan (C) 12. Records — Norton (8-7-2), Cloverleaf (10-5-1).