BELLBROOK — The Bellbrook High public address announcer mentions an area business with every goal kick attempted by the Golden Eagles goalie. It’s a way of recognizing the area business while drawing in some sponsorship dollars for the soccer program.
With defending state champion Beavercreek controlling the play during Tuesday’s Oct. 2 boys high school soccer match primarily on Bellbrook’s side of the pitch, those businesses were mentioned a lot.
The visiting Beavers controlled play and substituted at will in a 5-0 win over the host Golden Eagles.
Five different Beavercreek players scored goals, and goaltenders Garrett Arbogast and Joshua Hosner shared credit for the shutout.
Vaughn Ernst and Phillip Wynn scored the first two Beavercreek goals for a 2-0 halftime lead.
Fellow seniors Joe Butman and Hunter Jackson pushed the lead to 4-0 in the second half, and then senior midfielder Tanner Eberle closed out the evening’s scoring with his first goal of the season.
“We played well tonight, especially in the second half,” Beavercreek Coach John Guiliano said. “We were able to do some things, and we got some playing time for some kids. We’ve basically been off for a week. We played last Tuesday and the Tuesday before, so actually we’ve only had two games in the past 14 days.
“But now we’ve got three matches this week (Bellbrook, home Thursday against Fairborn for Senior Night, then at Elder, Saturday), then we’ve got Centerville at our place (Oct. 9). That will likely be the match that determines the (National East) division winner in the GWOC.”
Presently, Beavercreek (11-1-0 overall) is 7-0-0 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference’s National East, a half game out in front of Centerville (11-0-2, 6-0-1 GWOC National East), which blanked Springfield on the road Tuesday night. The two rivals meet on Tuesday, Oct. 9 for all the division marbles.
Unofficially, Bellbrook goalie Jared Zacharias booted 18 goal kicks back into play Tuesday night against Beavercreek. Officially, Zacharias recorded six saves against Beavercreek, which ties his second-most goals saved for the season.
“When we play a team like Beavercreek who’s obviously an excellent team, we use it as a way to find what we need to work on going into the postseason,” Bellbrook coach Bob Parks said. “We can then address those problems, and hopefully find solutions, going into the tournament.”
Parks said that, while he wasn’t happy with the 5-0 loss, he appreciated his team’s effort, particularly the play of senior co-captain Adam Galle.
“He’s our leader on the field. He makes a difference for us as far as how sound we are defensively, how we handle each possession. When the ball goes through him, good things happen for us,” Parks said.
Bellbrook fell to 5-4-3 overall. Like the Beavers, the Golden Eagles are in a divisional dogfight as well.
Maybe it should be a bird fight.
The Monroe Hornets are atop the Southwestern Buckeye League’s Southwestern division with a 5-0-3 mark. Bellbrook’s Golden Eagles are just a half game behind at 5-1-3. While Bellbrook’s next contest is Senior Night at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, they’ll have a non-league tussle Saturday at home against Tipp City, and a road battle with Valley View on Oct. 9 before closing out the regular season against the Hornets in Monroe on Oct. 11.
