STREETSBORO—Kirtland saw its season come to an end with a 4-2 loss to Kidron Central Christian in a Division III regional semifinal at Streetsboro High School on Wednesday.
The Hornets spotted the Comets a four-goal lead before rallying for two second-half scores.
“That first half, we were a little flat-footed,” Kirtland coach John Valentic said. “They were beating us to balls but they were creating their own lucky chances–the lucky bounces were popping out to them–and we just didn’t respond as well as we could have and like we showed in the second half.”
Adam Hostetler opened the scoring near the midway point of the first half and Reed Miller made it 2-0 just over a minute later.
The Comets increased their lead to 3-0 on Henry Perkins’ goal with 11:13 left in the first half.
Hoping to win the second half, the Hornets gave up a quick goal to Isaac Ramseyer that pushed the Central Christian lead to 4-0 with 34:12 remaining in the game.
The Hornets finally got on the board when Peter Vukovic tapped in a loose ball with 25:22 left. Jason de Zwaan headed in a corner kick with 8:56 left to close out the scoring.
“It was a test of their character,” Valentic said of the Hornets’ second-half rally. “I really challenged them to be victims or fighters and they chose to fight and they chose to battle; that’s what we’ve been doing all season. You have to play a full 80. You can’t play a 45, you can’t play a 60 at this level. I think we played an incomplete game.”
Kirtland closed out its season with a 15-5 record but the future remains bright for the Hornets, who will return their top four scorers as well as six sophomore starters next season.
Vukovic, a sophomore, led the team with 17 goals and added eight assists. Juniors Marko Cubela and Nico Podijil-Schlesinger both finished with 11 goals. Cubela also posted a team-high 10 assists. de Zwaan closed out the year with five goals and nine assists.
“When you start a regional semi with six sophomores, if you get perspective on that, that’s pretty impressive,” Valentic said. “We lose key people, as always, but six sophomore returning starters is a pretty good future. I’ll take it.”
