Shai Yulish scored a two first half goals in a span of five goals in the span of five minutes and Asaf Roth also score a pair to lead Beachwood to a 6-1 win at Kirtland on Tuesday.
With the win, the Bison improved to 8-2-1 overall and 4-0 in league play. Beachwood clinched at least a share of the Chagrin Valley Conference Metro/Valley Division. Kirtland dropped to 8-2-3 and 4-1.
“It’s all about preparation,” said Beachwood coach Brian Greene. “We’ve been playing a lot of big times like Chagrin Falls and Orange and NDCL. We play a lot of good teams and that prepares us for games like that. The boys stepped up.”
Yulish, who now has 20 goals this season, scored off a Matthew Stovsky assist in the 25th minute and on a solo shot five minutes later to give the Bison a 2-0 lead.
Roth scored his 12th goal in the 33rd minute to push Beachwood’s lead to 3-nil. Kirtland’s Jared Ianiro got the Hornets on the board a minute later but the Bison held the 3-1 lead at halftime.
Yulish and Roth, a pair of sophomores, have been Beachwood’s top scorers this season. Combined, they have scored 33 goals and assisted on eight others.
“All I can do is prepare them and educate them and get them ready to play,” Greene said. “They go out there and do it and they did it today.”
Bogatur Askaryan, Roth and Yuval Zamir scored for the Bison in the second half.
Griffin Davis started the game in goal for the Bison but suffered an injury and was replaced by Michael Dreka, who saw action for the first time this season after suffering an ACL injury last year. Each keeper recorded one save for Beachwood.
“Griffin came out on a 50-50 ball and had a collision with one of their players and made a great save,” Greene said. “Michael came in and played more than half the game. He did a great job.”
Kirtland’s Tommy Loncar recroded five saves.
Beachwood defeated Kirtland, 4-0, in the regular season last year. The Hornets turned the table in the post-season with a 4-1 win in a district semifinal.
Greene is hoping to avoid a repeat of that scenario.
“That’s a good team we went out and beat,” he said. “We won the battle but the war will be in the state tournament. Last year we did the same thing. We beat them pretty handily last year and they took us apart in the playoffs. I’m letting the boys enjoy this one for a little bit but on Thursday we get back after it against a really good West Geauga team.”
The loss snapped Kirtland’s 11-game unbeaten streak.
