Sam Durbin, boys soccer
PORT CLINTON – The Ross boys soccer team expected to be vastly improved in 2017, but this? Not quite.
The Little Giants romped to their second-straight blow-out win to start the season, traveling to Port Clinton and coming home with a 7-0 win Wednesday. Combined with Monday night’s win over Sandusky Perkins, Ross has outscored its opponents 17-0 this season.
Senior Sam Durbin played the role of point guard as much as midfielder, distributing the ball to his teammates and leading the Little Giants onto the scoreboard with two goals and four assists.
“They were kind of giving us the outsides of the field,” coach Alex Coressel said. “We were doing a good job of getting the ball to the middle and then getting it to the outside. Sam was able to make a couple of moves and get the ball up field and get the cross(pass) to a good spot where guys were open.
“We kind of spread out the field using that wing, really to open up the middle to get those guys better chances of getting open with the ball and get some relatively easy looks.”
The plan has worked to perfection twice now.
Dylan Brady scored twice, giving him seven goals already on the young season. Alec Slemmer, Chris Navarro and Drew Miesle also scored for the Little Giants.
Despite the lopsided score, Coressel said, it could have been even moreso had Ross not missed on many more opportunities. Ross fired 47 shots at the net, requiring the Port Clinton keeper to make 21 saves.
“They are very confident but not overconfident,” Coressel said. “We had a talk right after the game tonight and I told them first thing, ‘It was a 7-0 win but it was pretty ugly.’ And they absolutely agreed. They said there was a lot of things to clean up. There wasn’t a lot I had to say, they knew it.
“It’s nice that we can make a lot of mistakes that are correctable in practice and still come out with a relatively easy victory.”
Goalkeeper Mikey Contreras got his second win of the season, making 12 saves, though all but one were routine.
Ross returns to play Tuesday, opening Three Rivers Athletic Conference play at Lima Senior.