The Harvey Red Raiders came into the 2018 season flying under the radar of their Chagrin Valley Conference opponents.
That all changed with a 4-1 win at Hawken on Tuesday.
“I feel this win was big for our program as it is a huge building block for the season going forward,” said first-year Harvey coach Natalie Sisler. “This was a great win and boost for the team and program. Harvey has not beaten Hawken in a long time; I’m not sure when, if ever. For many of the players, this is all neCoffeew territory. It was exciting for the players as you can see their commitment and preparation paying off.”
Harvey is 0-2 against Hawken dating back to 2004 when online record keeping began. The Hawks outscored the Red Raiders in those two games, 11-0.
Rod Coffee finished off a long ball from Omar Morales to give the Red Raiders a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the first half. Christian Jacinto then headed in a corner kick from Jalen Allen six minutes later to push the Harvey lead to 2-0.
Hawken cut the lead to 2-1 but Harvey scored two goals in the second half to secure the win.
Jacinto again headed in a goal off a Morales corner kick and Morales later added a penalty kick.
“Christian Jacinto had a great game,” Sisler said. “Not only did he score two headers, he finally played with the desire I have been waiting for. Omar Morales did a great job controlling the midfield for the team. Defensively, Jony Pina and Sergio Gonzalez did a great job communicating and working together in the back along with keeper Carlos Sandoval with four saves.”
With the win, Harvey improved to 2-0 on the year but the Red Raiders aren’t going to let the big win or successful start change their approach to the rest of the season.
“We will just take it game by game and not become complacent or overly confident,” Sisler said. “I still think we will be flying under many teams’ radars. They probably just think that we caught Hawken on an off night. This is not the case; this was our team’s hard work and dedication beginning to pay off. Our team must stay hungry and not be satisfied with a few wins, just as we were not satisfied with being up by just a goal or two.”
