BELLVILLE — Caleb Merendino breathed life into his Clear Fork teammates Thursday at the Colt Corral.
Merendino’s goal off a rebound early in the second half broke a scoreless tie and the Colts captured a Division II sectional crown with a 3-0 win over visiting Port Clinton.
Second-seeded Clear Fork (12-4-2) will meet Norwalk at Clyde on Monday. The fourth-seeded Truckers beat Upper Sandusky 2-1 on Thursday.
Merendino’s ice-breaker started with a shot on goal by Michael Shupe. The shot eluded Port Clinton goal keeper Tytan Rumball and Merendino was there to tuck it in the back of the net.
“I saw Shupe coming and I called for the cross, but he decided to shoot,” Merendino said. “I saw it bounce off him and I was standing right there.
“It was big to get that lead. We kept the pressure up and kept attacking.”
Sensing blood in the water, Clear Fork took a 2-0 lead less than three minutes when Justin Leach beat Rumball.
“We got super hungry after that first one,” Clear Fork coach Brian Kinnard said. “That first one hit them hard and after that second one, they looked a little deflated.”
David McKinley secured the victory with an unconventional goal with 6:52 remaining. The Colts were awarded a direct kick and, as Port Clinton scrambled to align its defense, McKinley lofted an easy shot over the wall and past Rumball, who was helping set the defense.
“We’ll take them any way we can get them,” Kinnard said.
Keep to the Plan: Kinnard didn’t make any sweeping changes at halftime. Instead, he re-emphasized what he had told his team in the first half.
“We just really talked about a couple of things that we wanted to try to exploit,” he said. “We tried to find space on the wings because they were really committing bodies to the middle.
“They weren’t getting back so much and I thought we could take advantage of that. The guys were seeing it there at the end of the first half.”
Kennard also stressed the importance of following shots.
“We talked before the game about just being there in front of the net,” Kennard said. “Their keeper made some beautiful saves, but with a wet field and a slippery ball we thought he might bobble it.”
Focus: After struggling in a 3-2 win over five-win Ontario earlier in their sectional opener, the Colts looked more determined Thursday.
“I’m not sure what it was with Ontario, but we had better focus tonight,” Kennard said. “Tonight we played a great game. All my guys came through.”
“They weren’t getting back so much and I thought we could take advantage of that. The guys were seeing it there at the end of the first half.”
