Youth is served as Ringgold stops McGuffey
MONONGAHELA – Any coach looking for strategies on how to get freshmen acclimated to WPIAL soccer might want to give Steve Persaud a call.
Ringgold’s first-year head coach knew that replacing eight starters and having to play five freshmen would be a challenge this fall, especially with the program’s high expectations. The Rams have reached the playoffs for six consecutive seasons with a strong core of players, so Persaud made a few phone calls.
Persaud put together a team of alumni to scrimmage his varsity roster during the summer. It’s a plan the program adopted in previous years to simulate the speed of high school soccer and it was a test that Ringgold passed. That was evident Tuesday night at Joe Montana Stadium.
Freshman striker Eli Schoedel scored two goals and senior keeper Eric Selby made six saves to help the Rams defeat Section 6-AA rival McGuffey 3-0.
“I kind of had an idea of how the freshmen would perform based on what happened in practice,” Persaud said. “We had the alumni come in and really push them hard, so I kind of knew what they would do. I’m pleased they have come along that quickly. This was our best game so far. We really jelled.”
Schoedel’s first goal came in the 23rd minute when sophomore midfielder Jackson O’Conner played a ball over the top of a defender to lead the freshman. The Highlanders’ goalkeeper left the net to challenge him, but Schoedel, one of three freshmen starters, lifted the ball over his head and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Schoedel’s second goal – his fourth of the season – came in the 12th minute of the second half, after senior defender Brandon Perez was fouled in the box. Schoedel won a penalty kick competition in practice, so he was given the chance and he didn’t disappoint.
Schoedel lined up behind the ball and hit a low shot that beat Loughman to his right.
“It’s tough being a freshman, but you have to keep fighting and taking the hits,” Schoedel said. “You have to just get back up. You have to prove yourself to the team and get adjusted.”
Despite McGuffey (2-1, 2-4) deploying a five-defender rotation at times, the Rams (3-0, 3-2), who have outscored their past three opponents 15-1, found scoring chances. In the 19th minute, senior midfielder Joey Roman’s throw soared near the box but Perez’s header went into the arms of Loughman.
Romano all but secured the section win. In the second minute of the second half, freshman Wyatt Kaufman collected a loose ball, sprinted up the sideline and lobbed a cross pass to the box where Romano, one of just four seniors, one-timed it into the far side of the net for a 2-0 lead.
“I didn’t know what to expect from us, but I expected more than this,” McGuffey head coach Jim Kita said. “I knew they’d use (Perez) as a sweeper in the back and we wanted to move him up to create chances, but we didn’t do that. They wanted it more than us.”
The Highlanders, who lost six starters from last season, had their offense revolve around senior striker Aaron Harris. Ringgold shadowed Harris throughout the match but he found his chances, firing a rising shot from 10 yards in the fourth minute of the second half that Selby made a diving save to stop. Harris also had a header go off the crossbar on a 45-yard free kick.
With a three-goal deficit, McGuffey had yet another chance in the 28th minute of the second half when a ball was rolling toward the goal line, just three feet from the net, when Harris chipped it toward the goal. Defender Jeff Soles, one of six underclassmen starting for the Rams, slid to save the ball from going into the empty net.
“We’re kind of the underdogs this year,” Schoedel said. “It’s nice to get the wins, but we have to keep going. It’s going to be tough.”