Boys district soccer: Buckeye falls in double overtime to Norton

NORTON — A more positive Buckeye boys soccer team took to the pitch Wednesday night and gave one of its best efforts of the season. It wasn't enough, however, as the 36th-seeded Bucks fell 2-1 in double overtime to No. 22 Norton in a Division III, Northeast 1 District semifinal. Buckeye (3-11-4) got the first goal, as junior forward Gavin Williams slithered his way through multiple defenders before firing the ball past goalkeeper Nick Roush with 20:13 left in the first half. "I saw a chance, I took it and finished it," Williams said. "I saw a disconnect between the two center backs and the outside back and I took that chance." Norton responded just seven minutes later off a corner kick when Lincoln Russell corralled the loose ball and sent it past keeper Tanner Cuson. The teams played a scoreless second half and 15-minute first overtime period before Russell snuck the ball past Cuson from the keeper's left side, giving the Panthers the victory with 4:03 left. It was the second time this season the teams played 80 minutes of even soccer, as they had a 1-1 draw earlier. Buckeye outshot Norton 23-8, which included a 17-6 advantage in the second half and 7-2 in the two overtimes. The Bucks had several chances on set pieces, and senior Jackson Powell came close to sending Buckeye home a winner on multiple occasions. "The whole game they were disrespecting me a little bit with two-man walls (or) no walls from 25 yards out." said Powell, Buckeye's leading scorer this season. "So we wanted to capitalize on those, and I think we really had the chance to. Unfortunately, (it) didn't fall our way. That's on us." Part of the aggressive play by the Bucks was due to a coaching change in recent weeks, with Ivan Tenenika taking the reins. Wednesday was his third game leading. "We came out and played amazing today," Williams said. "We have a new coach, and he's been coaching us really well, very positive, and I think we came out more positive today, and I think that's what helped us." Powell echoed his teammate, and also said Buckeye's record doesn't reflect the kind of team the Bucks are because of the schedule they played this season. "We had an unexpected coaching change, and I think that we did well as a team to adapt to that," Powell said. "We wanted to win this game badly, and our record doesn't show the team that we are. We had a tough schedule all year playing strong Division I opponents, so I'm proud of all these guys." The Bucks graduate five senior starters in Cuson, Powell (M), Nate Miller (D/M), Dalen Martin (F, M) and Cole Rowland (D). but will return six starters in juniors Williams (F/M) and Brody Winter (D) and sophomores Cael Miller (F/M), Nate Tessman (F) and Dimitri Tenenika (M) and freshman Rhys Cielma (D). They also will return junior Jonathan Kruk (F) and freshman Eli Schaller (M), who each scored a goal this season for the Bucks, who finished the season with just 11 goals total. "It's going to be a very young team (next season)," Williams said. "It's going to be a lot of work in the offseason, a lot of strength, a lot of conditioning, but we will work toward it." Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com. Norton 2, Buckeye 1 BUCKEYE 1 0 0 0 — 1 NORTON&emsp;1 0 0 1 — 2 First B — Gavin Williams, 20:13. N — Lincoln Russell, 13:15. Second Overtime N — Lincoln Russell, 4:03. Shots on goal — Buckeye 23, Norton 8. Corner kicks — Buckeye 6, Norton 6. Saves — Tanner Cuson (B) 6, Nick Roush (N) 22. Records — Buckeye (3-11-4), Norton (9-7-1).