North Ridgeville vs. Austintown-Fitch boys soccer: Nate Bright’s late goal wins Rangers district championship – Morning Journal

In soccer, a team must keep its cool in front of the net.

In the Division II Northeast 2 district final, Rangers Nate Bright made the go-ahead goal in the 65th minute.

With the Rangers holding a 2-1 lead, Austintown-Fitch desperately aimed for the equalizer. However, North Ridgeville hung on to advance to the sweet 16.

“We talked about this at halftime,” Bright said. “We have to control our nerves, because throughout the first half, we were always sending shots over the goal or missing wide. When I got the ball in the space, I tried to control my breathing, focused on where I needed to place the ball and finish.”

PHOTOS: North Ridgeville vs. Austintown Fitch boys soccer, Oct. 26, 2024

North Ridgeville improved to 11-2-4 and advanced to the Division II Region 5 semifinal and will play at Nordonia High School.

“Those guys worked extremely hard to put the ball in the back of the net when we needed it to,” North Ridgeville Coach George Panagiotou said. “I’m not going to say that I wasn’t a little disappointed in our performance to let that first one in. We should not have been complacent and we had to make up for the mistake.”

As the Rangers took the lead, they also knew they had to hold the back line to keep the Falcons out of the net.

“You have to stay positive and make sure you are still in the game,” North Ridgeville goalie Lucas Krejsa said. “We had to stay locked in. There is no reason why you cannot be out of it for just a split second, or you are going to get scored on.”

North Ridgeville got on the scoreboard first, with a goal from Matthew Diloreto. The Rangers' possession style filled with passes resulted in an assist from Preston Thomas.

“We were excited to see everything that we worked on in training come into fruition,” Panagiotou said. “We have been spending a lot of time in front of the net and creating new opportunities for us to finish.”

The Rangers’ goal was scored in the eighth minute. Austintown-Fitch responded in the 26th minute.

The Falcons’ goal came off a counter attack, as Jackson Potkonicky assisted Antoni James to tie the match at 1-1.