Here are five high school games/sporting events to watch out for this week:
This is always one of the top early-season invitationals, including Crestwood, Field, Garfield, Southeast and Streetsboro out of Portage County. The Rockets boys and Red Devils girls are coming off team titles at last week’s Billy Goat Challenge. Streetsboro had three runners in the top 11 of the boys race: senior Ares Miller (fifth, 18:41.59), sophomore Preston Krzeminski (ninth, 19:11.16) and sophomore Ryan Haber (11th, 19:14.72). Crestwood had two in the top four of the girls race, seniors Piper Seibold (second, 20:47.77) and senior Madie Grace Gonczy (fourth, 21:44.23), while Streetsboro (junior Cara Thomson and senior Kaelyn Malloy) and Field (sophomore Alison Church) also had top-10 finishers.
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Two undefeated teams square off in this epic clash in Kent, their first meeting as Metro Athletic Conference rivals. Both recently recorded signature nonleague wins, with Roosevelt topping Lake (Federal League) and Field topping Copley (Suburban League). The Rough Riders have scored a whopping 22 goals through three games (including eight from senior Audrey Haines) while the Falcons have yielded just three in their first five games.
It’s too bad Portage County soccer fans can’t be two places at once because both Falcons-Rough Riders games are must-watch. Indeed, while the girls teams haven’t squared off in a while, the Field and Roosevelt boys have played each of the last three seasons with all three games decided by a single goal, including the Falcons prevailing 4-3 in Kent a year ago. Field carries an undefeated record into this year’s clash while both teams are trying to stay atop the MAC standings with matching 2-0 records entering the night.
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While two of the MAC’s unbeaten teams, Field and Roosevelt, battle in Kent, two other teams atop the MAC standings will meet just a short drive down Diagonal Road. The Colts and Rockets have a long history of great battles, both regular season and in the MAC Tournament. Indeed, they met in the last three MAC Tournament championship games, with Streetsboro winning all three, but generally in very close games, including an overtime thriller. The Rockets hope to shake off their first loss, which came Aug. 29 against Stow-Munroe Falls. They certainly have the potent attack to do so, led by sophomore McKenzie Montgomery (five goals, one assist). Seniors Lainey Manns (seven assists) and Abby Plowman (nine goals) have been no less effective for the Colts.
For an early September day, the third features a loaded schedule. In addition to the Field-Roosevelt clashes on the pitch, Aurora and Kenston volleyball meet in a rematch of last year’s regional semifinal. It was a memorable regional clash in Mentor with the Greenmen overcoming four-point deficits to win both of the first two sets and the Bombers responding to win three sets in a row to advance. Kenston star hitter Avari Amstutz is off to Stony Brook but Dani Johnson is back after a stellar freshman season and already has 43 kills through 16 sets while setters Emily Grubich and Maci Amstutz continue to conduct a solid attack. Similarly, Aurora returned hitter Gigi Goedert after an impressive freshman season with senior Aubrey Verdova and Goedert already amassing 118 combined kills through five games, while junior setter Kaylie Liepins (162 assists) continues to excel at setter.
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Contact Jonah L. Rosenblum at jrosenblum@recordpub.com and follow him on Twitter at @JLRSports.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: 5 Games, from Field-Roosevelt soccer to the Ashley White Invitational
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