ONTARIO – After a scoreless first half, and a heavy rain opening up, Ontario boys soccer coch Greg Fraley had a simple message for his team.
“I told them to have fun,” Fraley said. “If you can’t have fun, there is no reason to be on a soccer field.”
With players on both teams sloshing, slipping and sliding around the suddenly sodden pitch, both Ontario and Upper Sandusky managed two goals each in the final 40 minutes – ending the match in a 2-2 tie.
The non-league game moves Ontario’s record to 6-6-2 heading into a match Tuesday at local powerhouse Mansfield Christian. Upper Sandusky finished its regular season with an 8-6-2 record. The Rams next match will be in the Division II sectional at Tiffin Columbian High School. The Warriors are also in that same sectional.
Both sides had plenty of opportunities in the first half, but Ontario goalkeeper Ali Hussain and his Upper Sandusky counterpart, Clay Musgrave, were up to the task and kept the game scoreless.
As halftime began, so did the rain. Someone remarked the last time it rained like this Noah built himself an ark. That would be an exaggeration, but the field became water-logged and the areas at the goal creases turned into a sea of mud.
Ontario got on the board first with 33:48 left in the second half. Super sophomore Erik Klimczyski dribbled in from the right side and slammed the ball into the left corner of the net. It was also the moment that the scoreboard went out and never came back on again, no doubt related to the buckets of rain coming down from above.
A few minutes later, Upper Sandusky sophomore Tyler Emerick found the back of the net for the Rams, evening the score at 1-1.
There was a flurry of excitement in front of the Upper Sandusky goal a few minutes after that. The Warriors had a corner kick and it appeared Lennell Shelby scored after his redirection bounced off of a Ram defender and the goalkeeper.
But the referee waved off the goal, claiming the defender had touched the ball with his hand before it went into the net. He awarded Ontario a penalty kick instead. Klimczyski took the PK, which Musgrave successfully knocked away with a dive to his left. But the ball bounced away and Klimczyski followed up by slamming it into the net before Musgrave could recover.
The Warriors clung to the 2-1 lead, but Emerick got his second goal of the day when he kicked a ball that somehow rolled and bounced and made its way past a diving Hussain.
Both coaches had praise for their sophomore scorers.
“Tyler was our leading scorer last year as a freshman,” Upper Sandusky coach Keith Miller said. “We lost our assists leader and Tyler has had to back up some and assume more of that role. But he always finds a way to come through for us when we need him.”
Fraley said, “As a sophomore, Erik’s teammates voted him a captain. That says a lot about what his teammates think of him. He was second-team all-area as a freshman last year and he is a great asset to any program. He works with younger kids too, to help them improve their game.”
The Warriors have put together a solid season, despite the fact there are only three seniors on the 21-man roster, grades 9-12.
“We only had two seniors last year. My sophomores have really had to step up. A JV team would be very beneficial to our program. I get freshmen on the varsity level that have played club ball, but they never played at the high school level and they get throw into the mix quickly.”
Ontario Coach Greg Fraley said, “As a sophomore, Erik’s [Klimczyski] teammates voted him a captain. That says a lot about what his teammates think of him. He was second-team all-area as a freshman last year and he is a great asset to any program.
