Sam Belitz scored two goals to lead Independence to a 2-1 win at Wickliffe on Tuesday.
The Chagrin Valley Conference rivals played to a 0-0 draw in a torrential downpour during the second half then opened things up when the weather cleared in the final 40 minutes of play.
“The boys really want to try and win the league this year and it’s within our reach, but every game counts,” said Independence coach Ryan MacRaild. “Wickliffe was pretty pumped up because it was their first game, their first home game and the first league game, so they were ready.”
With the rain and wind disrupting the flow of the game in the opening half neither team mounted much of a threat.
That changed in the second and the Blue Devils struck first when Elek McDonald was clipped in the box and Belitz converted the penalty kick to give Independence a 1-0 lead.
“The keeper got a hand on it but tipped it in,” MacRaild said of the PK.
Wickliffe responded to tie it but Belitz made a move then beat the keeper to close out the scoring midway through the second.
“Sam had a run down the middle and put a little move on the center defender and put it away for the winning goal,” MacRaild said. “Sam came through but we played strong enough defense to get by.”
Independence’s offense had several other scoring opportunities but missed the net.
“We must have kicked at least eight to the keeper,” MacRaild said. “They went high or wide. We were spraying them all over the place in the second half. It just wasn’t good enough to put a couple more away.”
Tyler Korecko was busy in the net for the Blue Devils but he and the Independence defense held their ground.
“He got between the ball and goal a number of times,” MacRaild said. “They were really pushing us. Defensively, we have our moments. Ultimately we made a few adjustments and locked it down. We played a little more aggressive and tried to keep control of the ball a little more, where earlier in the game we were just kicking it away. We were getting back to our style of play.”
Independence hosts Oberlin on Thursday.
