BELLVILLE — Lexington goalkeeper Zac Ritchey did his best Tim Howard impersonation Tuesday at Clear Fork. Ritchey made a spectacular fingertip save with less than two minutes remaining in the second half and the Minutemen held on for a thrilling 1-0 win over the Colts in Ohio Cardinal Conference action.
Not unlike Howard, who bailed out the U.S. men’s national team on more than one occasion at last summer’s World Cup, Ritchey rescued the Minutemen (5-1, 3-0) and sent Clear Fork (4-2-1, 2-1-1) to its second straight defeat.
“Zac made a great save on a ball that hit the crossbar,” Lex coach Peter Them said. “The guys were saying it should be one of SportsCenter’s Top 10 and I don’t know that I disagree.”
Clear Fork’s Ben Sprang triggered the sequence with a throw in along the far touch line. Sprang’s well placed throw found the head of Griffin Robinette just in front of the Lex goal. Robinette’s header glanced off the crossbar before Ritchey collected it to preserve the shutout.
“We knew the kid had a deep throw in and I just wanted to play my line,” Ritchey said. “I saw it come in and I trusted my defenders to stay on it, but (Robinette) got a fantastic head. It was unbelievable. I thought the ball was in but I gave a last-ditch effort to try to keep it out and I got a fingertip on it. That was all it took.”
Ritchey was under siege for much of the second half as the Colts pressed forward in search of the equalizer. The senior had five second-half saves.
“Clear Fork has a great team and they kept the pressure up in the second half,” Ritchey said. “It took a great team effort tonight.”
Kyle Alexander scored the lone goal with 15:38 remaining in the first half. The senior weaved through four Clear Fork defenders and unloaded a left-footed shot into the upper right corner of the net.
“He’s a senior, a three-year letter-winner and a captain this year,” Them said. “The belief in himself to take four kids on and take that shot is something you can’t teach.”
Tough stretch: The Minutemen, who suffered their first loss of the season Saturday in a 4-0 setback at home against Hilliard Davidson, visit Mansfield Christian on Thursday. The Flames are 3-0-2 after a scoreless tie against Berlin Hiland on Saturday and are ranked eighth in Division III in this week’s Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association state poll.
“We got a meat-grinder going on this week,” Them said. “Between Hilliard Davidson and Clear Fork and Mansfield Christian, it doesn’t get much tougher than that.”
The Minutemen won’t have much time to enjoy Tuesday’s win.
“I’ll enjoy it tonight but then just try to forget about it,” Ritchey said. “I’ll keep it in the back of my mind. We’ll go into Thursday focused on Mansfield Christian and play that game as hard as we can.”
Drivers seat: The win put Lexington in a tie atop the Ohio Cardinal Conference standings with Ashland. The Minutemen and Arrows will resume their weather-delayed game Sept. 25.
“We were about 20 minutes in and down one-to-nothing,” Them said. “They scored and lightning struck.”
The Minutemen know their is still plenty of work to do.
“The win was big,” Alexander said. “Right now it’s us and Ashland, but we’ve got some other (conference) games coming up. It’s going to be a fight all the way to the end.”
Consistency is key: The Colts, who surrendered three second-half goals in last week’s 4-3 loss to Mansfield Christian got off to a slow start Tuesday but tightened up defensively in the second half.
“Really we’re looking for a consistency level for the full duration of a game,” Clear Fork coach Brian Kinnard said. “Right now we’re not getting that. I’m looking for that to happen.
“We did a much better job talking, communicating and possessing in the second half. When we do the things that we do well, I think we are a really tough match-up. But weve got to be consistent.”
